


You're a Figment of my worst intentions

by bicalamity



Series: Tell yourself you can always stop [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Established Relationship, F/F, F/M, Hogwarts Seventh Year, Hurt/Comfort, Lesbian Pansy Parkinson, M/M, POV Pansy Parkinson, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, werewolf attack
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-24
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-14 20:48:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 24,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29673072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bicalamity/pseuds/bicalamity
Summary: After a tumultuous sixth year, Pansy is fully ready to just relax, pass her NEWTs and spend time with her girlfriend.  If only life stopped getting in the way and fucking everything up for her, she could do that.A Sequel to I Swore To God I'd Never Fall In Love.  If you want more context, absolutely read that, but you don't really have to.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Hermione Granger/Pansy Parkinson, Lavender Brown/Parvati Patil, Luna Lovegood/Ginny Weasley, Padma Patil/Ron Weasley, Tracey Davis/Daphne Greengrass
Series: Tell yourself you can always stop [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1967635
Comments: 13
Kudos: 57





	1. Chapter 1

There was next to no reason why Pansy wasn’t earlier to Kings Cross, it wasn’t like Diagon Alley was that far away. No, she’d just slept in late, though if either Tracey or Daphne asked, she’d make up an elaborate lie. Luckily, they didn’t seem to be in a questioning mood, Daphne just seemed antsy.

“ _ There  _ you are, Merlin. You are so close to late.” Daphne sighed, and Pansy chuckled and shook her head. They were ten minutes early, but from the look of it, just Daphne and Tracey, Astoria had already gone in and found her friends. So, later than she’d meant to be.   


“Yeah, I got a late start. Important thing is I’m here now. Ready?” Pansy asked, and Daphne sighed and flicked the hair over her shoulder, nodding.   


“To do this for the last time? Yeah.” She said, and Tracey raised an eyebrow and shook her head. Good, Pansy wasn’t the only one thinking that that was wrong.   


“Uh, bullshit. We’ve got holidays.” Tracey reminded her, and Daphne rolled her eyes and scoffed at her girlfriend, but Pansy found it sweet how she couldn’t stop her lips from curling into a smile when she looked Tracey in the eyes.   


“I was trying to be nostalgic, but you wankers ruin everything for me.” She snapped, and Pansy shrugged.

“It’s our job.” Pansy reminded her, and Daphne shook her head.   


“Pansy’s right.” Tracey piped up, and Pansy stifled a chuckle as Daphne shot a glare at her girlfriend that was damn near theatrical.   


“You’re my  _ girlfriend _ , Tracey. Taking her side?” Daphne asked, and Tracey merely shrugged, examining her fingernails as she did.   


“Mhm. She’s right.” Tracey said, and Daphne glared at her.   


“Bitch.” She huffed, and Pansy reached out and smacked the back of her head.   


“Don’t call your girlfriend a bitch, wanker.” Pansy snapped, and Daphne rolled her eyes. Fair, it was Tracey who’d thrown a shoe at her head last year and told her not to call Hermione a wanker, not Daphne. But it still seemed fair to call her out on it.   


“Fine! I’ll go first, you two better be right behind me.” Daphne said, and Tracey nodded and pressed a long kiss to her lips. Almost uncomfortably long. Merlin, did it make Pansy want to crawl out of her skin. Now, it wasn’t that she had an issue with people showing affection, it was just the whole ‘I don’t want to see my best friends make out’ thing.   


“We will.” Tracey said when they  _ finally  _ separated. Thank. Merlin. After Daphne was through, Tracey and Pansy were quick to follow briskly onto the train. Pansy couldn’t help but stare with awe at all the new students, so excited, so  _ not  _ broken. It must’ve affected the other girls too, because she heard Tracey clear her throat.   


“Merlin, first years look so small now.” She mumbled as they made their way to an empty compartment and say down as normal, Daphne and Tracey on one side, Pansy on the other.   


“I can’t even remember being that age.” Pansy commented, and Daphne and Tracy gave each other a look before speaking.   


“Trauma will do that to a person. So will taking a bunch of unforgivable curses before the age of 13.” Daphne pointed out, and Pansy rolled her eyes and sighed. She really didn’t want to think about how her parents ‘showed love’ right now.   


“I’m sorry, I don’t remember signing up to remember my childhood.” Pansy snorted, and Tracey gave her a worried look.   


“You’re  _ supposed  _ to remember your childhood.” She said and Pansy eyed her warily. That couldn’t be right…  _ all  _ of it? Really? Not just small little patches? Small little patches seemed safer, more efficient.   


“Pretty sure that’s some giant inside joke.” Pansy commented, hoping to lighten the mood. It didn’t.   


“ _ Or _ . Some of us have loving parents from the start.” Daphne pointed out and Pansy shrugged, brushing the hair out of her eyes. She’d really meant to ask Fleur to touch it up for her last week when she was at the Burrow for dinner, but it’d slipped her mind. Molly’s cooking always took first place in her mind when she was over there.   


“I’m not inclined to believe you.” Pansy said quickly, and Tracey shrugged.   


“Molly’s nice.” She added, and Pansy raised an eyebrow.   


“She’s not my mom.” She reminded her, and Daphne cleared her throat.   


“She basically is.” No. No. Pansy wasn't doing this today, it was too emotional for her.   


“... No.” Pansy finally said, but that didn't sit too well with either one of the two wankers.   


“Dude, you stayed there for most of the summer, she’s practically your mother.” Daphne pointed out, and Pansy cleared her throat and looked away.   


“Let’s get past that!” Pansy said quickly, hating the giant smile spreading across Daphne’s face. Something told her they were  _ not  _ getting past that right now, and she hated that even more.   


“Aw, is Pansy embarrassed to have someone caring about her?” Daphne teased, and Pansy felt her cheeks heat up. Oh, she was considering murder more and more every moment. Maybe Azkaban wouldn’t be too bad, it would be like a little family reunion…. Where only one person remembers that they’re family.   


“I will set you on fire.” Pansy threatened, but that didn’t seem to land on Daphne at all, she just gave her a look like the mere idea of her doing that was ludicrous.   


“Good luck with that, you’ve always sucked at combustion spells.” Daphne snorted, and Pansy raised an eyebrow at her and crossed one leg over the other.   


“I can learn. I’ve got a very smart girlfriend.” She reminded her, and Daphne’s face dropped as she shook her head. Good, that had the desired effect.   


“That’s not funny. I’m scared of one person in our year and it is  _ absolutely  _ Hermione, she could kill me with a thought and I don’t like that.” Daphne said quickly, and Pansy gave her a wolfish smile and chuckled. She loved having a girlfriend that was respected, if not feared after the fact that she’d helped kill the dark lord. It was hot.   


“I do.” Pansy said, and Daphne grimaced.   


“Merlin, Pans. Too much information.” Daphne sighed, and Pansy furrowed her brow. What?   


“ What? No! Not like that, Merlin.” Pansy sighed. Why would she even _think_ it could be something taken sexually? Pansy hadn't even _hinted_ at that.   


“Good, I was gonna say, we’re close but not that close.” Daphne said, wrinkling her nose, and Pansy couldn't help but chuckle because _honestly_ when had Daphne _ever_ cared about someone talking about sex around her?   


“I’m sorry didn’t you ask for details after I lost my virginity last year?” Pansy asked, and Daphne huffed and looked out the window.   


“Yeah, but thats different.” She mumbled, and Pansy raised an eyebrow. In what fucking universe is that different? _How_ is that different?   


“How so?” Pansy asked, and Daphne shrugged, shooting her a glare.   


“It just is!” She spat, and Pansy shook her head. What a fucking idiot.

“It’s not.” Pansy said, glancing at Tracey who nodded.   


“And she totally knows it.” Tracey added, and Daphne gave them another look, probably meant to look like a warning, but it just came across as her pouting sort of. Like she was mad at getting made fun of. Well, if that was something Daphne was feeling she should've brought it up six years ago, they never would've become friends.   


“I hate you both.”   


“Nah, you really don’t.” Tracey sighed, and Daphne did her best to maintain the glare, but it pretty much faltered the moment Tracey smiled at her anyways, so it was ruined by this point.   


“Fine, I don’t hate  _ you _ .” Daphne said, kissing Tracey's cheek lightly, and scoffed. Wanker.   


“Oi!” Pansy snapped, but Daphne didn't take it back.    


“I stand by my statement.” Daphne sighed, and Pansy rolled her eyes and slumped against her chair;   


“Wanker.” She muttered, and Daphne let out a quiet chuckle and leaned forward a bit.   


“ Yes. I am. That’s not gonna shake me, idiot.” Daphne said, and Pansy rolled her eyes.   


“Wasn’t meant to.” She mumbled, and they rode for a few minutes in a tense silence before Daphne cleared her throat to interrupt it.   


“Whatever. Do you two want anything when the cart comes around? My treat.” Daphne said, and Pansy's head snapped up. Like hell it was, what was that supposed to mean?   


“I’ve got money, Daph. I might not be an heiress anymore, but I’m not poor.” Pansy snapped, and Daphne blinked, clearly surprised at Pansy's outburst. Well, could she really blame her? Pansy hated people making assumptions now that she was cut off.   


“No, I know. But you’re  _ supplying _ , and Tracey’s my girlfriend.” Daphne said, as if it should've been obvious, and maybe it was, just not in that moment.   


“In that case, get me whatever.” Pansy said flippantly, and Daphne nodded. At least she knew what Pansy liked, right? But suddenly, there appeared to be something very different on Daphne’s mind as she glanced  around the compartment.   


“Wait…. Why isn’t Hermione in here?” Daphne asked, and Pansy shrugged.    


“Sitting with Ron and Harry. We can sit with our friends.” She explained, and she watched as Daphne and Tracey exchanged a worried look before turning their attention back to her. Rather intensely, too.   


“Are you two okay?” Tracey asked, and Pansy raised an eyebrow. Where in the name of Merlin was this faux worry coming from?   


“Why wouldn’t we be?” Pansy asked carefully   


“Because she didn’t want to ride with you.” Daphne pointed out, and Pansy sighed and rolled her eyes. Was that seriously all they were on about? Merlin...   


“This was a decision we made last year. We’re totally good, we just both value our own lives.” Pansy explained, and she didn't know why that only seemed to confuse them more. Maybe because they were best friends before they started dating? Who knows.   


“Right…” Tracey trailed off.   


“Don’t believe me?” Pansy asked, and Daphne shook her head, giving her a serious look.   


“Never.” She said, and Pansy fully believed that. Daphne was never convinced that Pansy was okay anymore, especially not after this summer.   


“What doesn’t Daphne believe?” Hermione asked, and Pansy jumped, not expecting her girlfriend’s voice to ring out from the doorway, but she was pleasantly surprised, and scooted down so she could take a seat.   


“That we can sit apart and not have any problems.”   


“What?! We don’t have problems, fuck you Greengrass.” Hermione snapped, and Daphne raised an eyebrow and smirked. Shit, Pansy knew exactly where this was going and she couldn’t stop it fast enough.   


“Don’t think Pansy would like that too much.” Daphne said, and Pansy let out a frustrated sigh and rolled her eyes, looking up at the ceiling. She could  _ not  _ hex her best friend this early into the year, it just made her look like a bad sport. Next week though…    


“No I would not.” Pansy sighed   


“Neither would I, for the record.” Tracey added, and Hermione clapped her hands together to get everyone's attention.   


“Alright, moving on because I don’t even want to talk about  _ that _ . Are you three ready for our last year?” Hermione asked, and Daphne and Tracey both shrugged.   


“As ready as I’ll get.”    


“Eh.” Yeah, that summed that up pretty well.   


“I don’t want to be head girl. I’m gonna suck with those kids.” Pansy confessed, and Hermione gave her a worried look as she rubbed gently across her shoulder blades, pressing a kiss to her arm as she did.   


“No you won’t, come on. Give yourself some credit, yeah?” Hermione asked and Pansy snorted and gave her a look. It had nothing to do with credit, and everything to do with fact. She was a bitch to full grown people, obviously she couldn’t handle a  _ child _ .   


“Hermione. I’m an only child. The only kid I’ve willingly spoke to is Astoria Greengrass and that’s because it's like talking to a less mean version of Daphne, which makes it semi-enjoyable.” Pansy explained, which earned her a swift kick to the shin from Daphne, as expected.   


“Excuse you! I’m a fucking delight.” Daphne snapped, and Pansy sighed and rolled her eyes. Wanker.   


'“Sure you are, Daph. Anyways. I’m not equipped to handle the first years.” Pansy sighed, and Hermione shook her head.   


“You’ll do great, I just know it.” She said. Ugh. Pansy didn’t need encouragement, she knew that if she put her mind to it she could do it, but that was just the problem. She’d used so much of her mental capacity worrying last year, she didn’t know if she had the bandwidth.   


“I think you’re thinking of yourself. Seriously, you’re like  _ made  _ for being head girl. You and Ron are gonna be really good at that.” Pansy sighed, and Hermione chewed on her lip as she looked over at Pansy. Oh, she could already guess the question, it was what had been burning in both of their minds since the beginning of the holidays.   


“Who's the Slytherin head boy?” Hermione asked, and Daphne took a deep breath. Pansy had told them the week before, no longer wanting to keep it a secret. And the only reason she knew so quickly was Draco wrote her a letter, which she read and promptly burned, never returning it. But, she did tip his owl. She's not a complete asshole, and the little boy works very hard. She thought he deserved a treat.   


“Take a wild guess.” Daphne sighed, and Hermione's jaw dropped as she looked at Pansy for confirmation, or maybe expecting her to go 'Just kidding! Hogwarts used their one collective brain cell and _didn't_ make a known deatheater headboy'. but she couldn't say that because it wasn't true so she merely shrugged and grimaced.   


“ _ Seriously _ ? After all the shit he pulled last year they picked him?” Hermione asked and Daphne nodded.   


“Mhm. Like, I will never fully forgive him, but even Theo would’ve been a better choice. He’s just gonna fuck those kids up, and we can only hope they don’t turn out like him.” She said, and Pansy snorted and nodded.   


“A rich daddy’s boy who claims to be a tortured soul who didn’t have a choice despite the fact that he  _ did _ but he just couldn’t live without his stupid fucking trust fund?” Pansy asked, and Tracey gave her a knowing look.   


“Yeah, but you’re not bitter.” Tracey chuckled, and Pansy nodded, trying her best to look sincere.   


“No, not at all.” Pansy responded, and Daphne cleared her throat, turning her attention on Hermione.   


“Anyways. You and Ron and Pansy and Draco are like night and day.” Daphne reminded the Gryffindor, and Hermione still didn't look convinced.   


“These kids are going to go into second year with trauma, I swear to Merlin.” Pansy sighed, and that only seemed to bother Hermione _more_. She couldn't figure out why, it was meant to be _funny_. Wasn't there some kind of saying about laughing at yourself? Pansy was doing that, that was good, right?   


“No they won’t, give yourself some credit.” Hermione said, and Pansy shrugged and leaned against the seat. It was hard to explain, but this was her giving herself credit, she was just very aware of her shortcomings in life.   


“Believe me, I’m trying.” Pansy muttered.   


“Oh, and this is off topic but… I left something in your flat last week, is there any chance you have it?” Hermione asked quietly, and Pansy furrowed her brow in confusion. What could she be-oh. Why talk about that so cryptically.   


“Your bra?” Pansy asked at full volume which earned her a heavy glare. Alright, so they were whispering on purpose. Noted.   


“I was whispering for a  _ reason _ .” Hermione sighed, and Daphne let out a fake shocked gasp to get their attention.   


“Oh no. Merlin forbid, I had  _ no  _ idea that the two of you fuck. It’s not like Pansy and I share a dorm and you guys occasionally forgot a silencing charm or anything.” Daphne said, keeping her voice measured and bored as Pansy shot her a warning look. She didn’t need to start this year with Hermione upset with her, it wasn’t the move.   


“ _ Daphne _ .” Pansy snapped, and Daphne didn’t seem affected, in fact it was just the opposite. She was  _ amused _ . Little bitch.   


“Kidding, kidding.” Daphne said, waving her off, and Pansy let out a sigh of relief. Honestly, she’d mortified too if that was true.   


“Good.” She muttered, and she caught the glint in Daphne’s eye. Fuck.   


“For the most part.” Daphne added, and Pansy lifted her head again, willing herself not to hex the life out of her friend. That would just be a shitty way to start the year.   


“ _ Shut your mouth _ .” Pansy said through gritted teeth, and Daphne finally backed off. Oh good, she does have some self preservation skills after all. Smart girl.   


“Got it.” Daphne sighed, and Pansy cleared her throat and leaned closer to Hermione’s ear, remembering to lower her voice this time.   


“Also, yes I have it. It’s in my trunk, I can give it back to you tomorrow morning if you want. I figure since we’re gonna be so busy with the sorting ceremony and everything-.” Hermione nodded and pressed a kiss to her lips, effectively cutting her off. Still one of her favorite ways to be cut off, honestly. No complaints.   


“Absolutely.” She murmured, when they broke apart, and Pansy couldn’t help but smile.   


“Cool.” Pansy responded, and the other witch curled into her chest for a moment, letting out a content sigh. For a second, Pansy considered asking her to stay with them in the compartment, but they’d made rules, it would be shitty to break them now.   


“You know, I’m surprised.” Hermione commented, and Pansy looked down at her and raised her eyebrow.   


“Why?” Pansy asked, and Hermione shrugged.   


“Because, we left the station 20 minutes ago and it  _ still  _ doesn’t smell like weed in here.” Hermione commented, and Pansy almost chuckled at how offended Daphne managed to look at that statement. She was right to say it, normally by now they would be smoking, but they’d gotten distracted talking.   


“We do other things, Granger!” Daphne sighed, and Hermione let out a chuckle. She was right to laugh, that was ridiculous, but also now they  _ had  _ to prove Hermione wrong, it was only right.   


“Oh yeah? Like what, specifically?” Hermione asked, raising an eyebrow and all three of them shrugged.   


“We talk.” Daphne said, and Pansy nodded. Yeah, they did plenty of that, always had. It made for a good friendship.   


“We bully each other.” Tracey added, and Pansy rubbed her chin as she thought. What else was there.   


“And…” She said, drawing out the word, and she looked over at Daphne and Tracey who grimaced.   


“No, that's it.” Daphne sighed, and Hermione looked confused at this, and a little concerned.   


“Merlin. Are you sure you guys are friends?” Hermione asked, and Daphne scoffed and nodded, tucking her knees to her chest as she spoke.   


“Oh yeah, if we weren’t friends it would include a lot of hexes.” She said, basically taking the words right out of Pansy’s mouth. Apparently, that wasn’t good enough for Hermione, who looked a little bit nervous.   


“That doesn’t sound healthy…” She sighed, and Pansy chuckled and looked over at her girlfriend. What about who they were as people made anyone think that their friendship would be entirely healthy?   


“Hermione. We are three Slytherins, one of which is disowned and has mommy issues, one who took three torturing curses last year, and the last one who is Tracey. What about that says healthy?” Pansy asked, arching her eyebrow, and she let out a chuckle at the look on both Hermione’s face and Tracey’s expression. Fun.   


“Excuse me, but what did I do?” Tracey asked, arching her eyebrow, the look on her face downright murderous. Alright, so Pansy had to think up something fast… or, it looked like Daphne was doing it for her.   


“Fucked Theodore Nott.” Daphne mumbled, and Pansy covered her mouth to keep her laugh in because she’d been  _ waiting  _ for this argument, and luckily Tracey had a response right on the tip of her tongue.   


“Oi! You’re one to talk, you fucked Blaise Zabini for over a  _ year _ !” Tracey reminded her, and Hermione let out an astonished chuckle and gave Pansy a look. Oh right, they’d never been completely candid around Hermione.   


“Ugh, don’t remind me.” Daphne groaned, and that seemed to settle that argument, because Daphne was curled back into Tracey’s side in a heartbeat.   


“Well… as fun as this has been, I should get back. Just wanted to say hi.” Hermione sighed, standing up as she brushed off her skirt. Pansy caught her hand, kissing the back of it gently.   


“Later, love.” Pansy murmured, and she loved how Hermione’s smile grew at this. Good. She deserved that.   


“Oh, and Pans?” Hermione asked, hanging back for a moment and Pansy looked up at her.   


“Hm?” She asked   


“Don’t forget to make it over to the prefect car at some point, alright? We have to.” Hermione reminded her. Right. That. She’d rather not, but responsibilities are responsibilities.   


“I will. I promise.” Pansy said, and Hermione grinned and bent to press a kiss to the top of Pansy’s head before straightening back up.

“Good, see you guys when we get there.” Hermione said, and she swung out of the compartment. Pansy waited until she heard her compartment door click before she swung theirs shut and turned to face her friends, both of which were looking at her expectantly.   


“Light it up, Parkinson. Lets get this show started.” Daphne sighed, stretching out across her bench and resting her head in Tracey’s lap. Right. The whole reason she’d brought her bag with her. Time to make this trip at least semi enjoyable.   


* * *

The tables in potions were so well set up for a discreet nap, and Pansy had learned the art of doing it _so_ perfectly over the years, book open, head tucked behind the cauldron so no one was the wiser. Or, no one was the wiser _except_ Hermione, she should say.

“Pansy.” Hermione whispered, jabbing her finger hard into Pansy’s shoulder. How rude, she was in the middle of a wonderful dream of  _ not  _ being stuck in a boring fucking class. But of course, her  _ lovely  _ girlfriend had to bring her back into reality.   


“Mm.” She grunted, but that apparently wasn't enough of a response, because she felt the sharp jab again.   


“ _ Pansy Parkinson _ .” Hermione hissed, and Pansy sighed and lifted her head, squinting her eyes at her.   


“What?” She asked, and Hermione gave her a look.   


“Wake up.” She insisted, and Pansy raised an eyebrow. She wasn’t exactly in the mood for learning things that she’d never use again outside of this classroom.   


“Why?” Pansy yawned, and Hermione rolled her eyes.   


“We are in  _ class _ . It’s the first day, you cannot be sleeping right now!” She said, and Pansy chuckled and shook her head. That's just a flat out lie.   


“Correction. I  _ can _ . I just shouldn’t because it's frowned upon.” Pansy said, giving her a cocky grin, and Hermione huffed and rolled her eyes, smacking Pansy’s arm as hard as she could without drawing attention to them, which was apparently still pretty damn hard. Ouch.   


“ _ Exactly.”  _ Hermione hissed, and Pansy sat up, resting her chin on her hand as she glanced sideways at the Gryffindor.   


“Then I guess its really good that I don’t exactly give half a fuck what people think of me anymore, right?” Pansy asked, and Hermione was about to respond when they were interrupted by someone clearing their throat. Correction. Their _professor_ clearing his throat.   


“Ms. Parkinson?” He called out, and Pansy felt her face pale. This should be interesting, she was hardly paying attention.   


“Yes Professor?” Pansy asked, her back ramrod straight for a moment before she relaxed, not loving all the eyes in the room on her   


“Something you’d like to share with the class?” Slughorn asked, his face looking patient as he folded his hands behind his back, but Pansy was too smart to fall into this trap, she could tell when a teacher was luring her into being safe just so they could dock her house points, and she wasn't in the mood.

“No sir.” Pansy said, doing her best to sound innocent and attentive. That fell on deaf ears, Slughorn wasn't in a forgiving mood today.   


“Perhaps you’d like to explain the properties of Wolfsbane.” He offered, and Pansy shrugged. She could do that, it wasn't that hard.   


“Absolutely. Potion or plant, sir?” She asked, straightening up, trying to ignore Hermione’s shocked look. She knew things, it shouldn’t be that surprising.   
“Potion.” He said, and Pansy thought for a moment before she remembered what she’d learned about. Maybe studying  _ did  _ have benefits.   


“Smokey, faintly unpleasant tasting, and very difficult to brew. It allows a werewolf to basically stay sane during transformation.” Pansy recited, remembering reviewing that section in the textbook over the summer when she’d gotten bored at the Burrow. Turns out, learning about Potions can be fun when the alternative is playing quidditch against a bunch of very passionate gingers. And turns out it was in her favor, because Slughorn looked impressed as he nodded.   


“Very good.” He commented, and once his focus was back on teaching, Hermione fully turned to look at Pansy.   


“How’d you know that?” Hermione asked quietly, and Pansy shrugged, giving her a half smile as she did.   


“I know it may be a shock, love, but I had pretty good marks in potions for a while… and I do study sometimes.” Pansy murmured, and Hermione smiled at her, something flashing in her eyes as she leaned in close.   


“You’re sexy when you’re knowledgeable.” Hermione murmured against her ear and Pansy coughed and raised her arm to cover the flush on her face, still not totally used to Hermione occasionally being bold. It was funny how she could go from getting embarrassed about Pansy mentioning her bra on the train yesterday to openly flirting in class today.   


“Excuse me, I’m sexy  _ all  _ the time.” Pansy murmured, and Hermione sighed and rolled her eyes, leaning back away from her. Moment sufficiently ruined, nice job Pansy. Nice job. She really hadn’t meant to ruin it.   


“It was a  _ compliment _ .” Hermione hissed, and Pansy chuckled and nodded. Obviously she knew that.   


“I know, love. I was fucking around with you.” Pansy insisted, and Hermione didn't look fully convinced, but she did slowly nod. A small win.   


“Good.” Hermione grumbled, and they sat through the rest of class silent, Pansy sitting up now, and Hermione taking careful notes. Of course, Pansy was only paying close attention so she could be the first one out of the classroom when the hour was up, and she succeeded in that. Well. Maybe paying attention did have a purpose.

“That was boring.” Pansy sighed, and you'd think she just personally insulted Hermione from the look on her face.   


“No it wasn’t! Come on, Wolfsbane is so advanced, it’s interesting to learn about.” Hermione insisted, and Pansy shrugged. Sure, in theory it was interesting to hear about, but she wanted things she could use in her every day.   


“Yeah, but when will we ever have to use that?” Pansy asked, and Hermione shrugged, like she could think of a time.   


“Well, you never know. Things can happen.” Hermione said, and Pansy didn’t like the sound of that one bit. As much as she believed in Hogwarts ability to….  _ Sometimes  _ keep them safe, that wasn’t a fun statement to make.   


“Doubtful. We’re at Hogwarts. We’re safe.” Pansy said, and she genuinely believed that. With the cabinet destroyed, she couldn’t think of a way that anyone would be able to get into Hogwarts easily.   


“Danger is everywhere.” Hermione commented and Pansy furrowed her brows because  _ what the fuck was that supposed to mean _ ? It certainly made her feel more on guard, that was for sure.   


“Merlin, you’re cryptic.” She sighed, and Hermione smiled up at her.   


“You love it.” Hermione reminded her, and Pansy sighed and nodded, wrapping an arm around her shoulders as she did. Of course she did.


	2. Chapter 2

It was simple, really. She was supposed to get out of Herbology, make her way _quickly_ to the quietest first floor corridor, and meet Tracey and Daphne there so they could smoke. But that wasn't _possible_ when Draco wouldn't leave her alone. He'd genuinely been trying to talk to her all of class, and had followed her out, getting bold enough to grab her arm and spin her around. Oh, he was _so_ lucky that he still had _hands_ after doing that.

“Pansy. I, uh, I’m sorry.” Draco mumbled, and Pansy chuckled and shook her head, shoving past the blonde as fast as possible. She was supposed to be hanging out with Tracey and Daphne right now, not dealing with an entitled asshole.

“Fuck you.” Pansy huffed, but of course he followed. Because Merlin forbid Draco Malfoy understand when he's not wanted.   


“Wait, Pans!” He called out, and Pansy rolled her eyes and whirred around, coming face to face with Draco, who was following far too close to her. She slowly shoved him back with one finger, putting at least an arms-length space between the two of them. She'd rather a fucking continent be between them, so she'd never have to see him again.   


“Oh Merlin… what about fuck you didn’t sink in? Seriously? I don’t want to talk to you. Ever. Unless I’m obligated to because of the head boy and girl thing, other then that, I’d rather swallow thumbtacks.” Pansy snapped, but as usual, Draco didn’t care about anything but his own fucking agenda. It should be fucking typical by now, but Pansy still sometimes forgets how  _ selfish  _ he really is.   


“I have something I need to say.” Draco said quietly, and Pansy rolled her eyes and flashed him a large fake smile, fluttering her eyelashes at him. She saw the fear underlying the confusion on his face. Perfect.   


“Well, then that changes everything.” Pansy said, making her voice as faux bright as she could. And stupidly, Malfoy seemed to believe it. He leaned a little closer, looking hopeful as he did.

“Really?” He asked, and Pansy shook her head. Now she was thinking he really _had_ gotten dumber over the holiday. Anything was possible.   


“ _ No _ .” Pansy said, her voice deadpan, glancing over his shoulder. Where the fuck were Daphne and Tracey? They were meant to be here five minutes ago, and  _ Merlin _ could she use a good excuse to get out of this conversation.   


“But-.”   


“You lost any right to say anything to me when you took the Dark Mark and had me kidnapped.” She reminded him, and Draco took a deep breath and cleared his throat, reaching up to straighten his tie as he did.   


“Uh, to be fair… the kidnapping part was my father’s doing not mine.” He said, and Pansy let out a long sigh. _That_ was his clever fucking comeback? Seriously?   


“ _ Pardon me  _ for not splitting hairs, it was your fucking face!” Pansy snapped, hating hearing her voice crack on the word 'face'. It always made her sound like she was going to cry, even when she was nowhere near that.   


“I know, but I never knew they were going to hurt you.” He insisted, and Pansy raised an eyebrow. What had they said to him? 'Don't worry Draco, we just want to talk to her, and you can _totally_ trust us, its not like we're a bunch of escaped convict and one noseless asshole who was outsmarted by a baby'?

“Are you stupid?” She asked, and she meant it. He looked offended as he answered he.   


“No-.” He started, but Pansy held up a hand to quiet him so she could continue her insults.   


“I’m serious. Are you  _ genuinely  _ stupid?” Pansy asked, letting a humorless, grating laugh tear out of her throat.   


“What do you mean?” He asked and Pansy took a deep breath before training her eyes back on his face, thinking of all the ways she could ruin his features.   


“HAVING ME KIDNAPPED IS GOING TO INHERENTLY CAUSE DAMAGE, WANKER!” Pansy said, not realizing just how loud she’d been until she saw a small cluster of students behind her, who ran off when she turned her glare on them. Good.

“Right… I know, but-.” She shook her head. Nope. Not today.   


“No. No buts. Move.” Pansy snapped, trying to step around him, but Draco followed his steps. Oh, he was just  _ asking  _ for a pair of antlers right now.   


“I haven’t gotten to say what I need to say.” Draco said, sounding a little pathetic. She didn't give a _fuck_ , he was the one inconveniencing her right now, she could be rude..   


“And you won’t.” She said curtly, and he blinked in surprise, clearly not expecting such a firm response.   


“Pansy-.” He started, and she shook her head. She wasn't in the mood for any of his bullshit, half assed apologies today.   


“I’d get the fuck out of my way before I  _ make  _ you get out of my way. I’ll use force that has lasting damage, Malfoy. I’ve got  _ my  _ scars from your fucking choice, it’s not fair that you’re still unscathed.” She said through clenched teeth, and her words seemed to stun him enough that she was able to push past him again, but before she could get any further, he grabbed her arm and tried to pull her back.

“Wait-.” She shook the hand off of her.   


“Don’t touch me.” Pansy snapped, but Draco didn't listen and reached out again.   


“Pansy, please-.” He started, but the second that his arm made contact with her arm again, she was completely ready to end his life if that was what it took to get him to leave her the fuck alone already. She wasn't asking anymore.   


“Get the fuck away from me Malfoy, I’m serious. Before I do something to you that we  _ both  _ regret.” Pansy snapped, yanking her arm back from him. He let out a long breath and ran a hand through his hair nervously. The trust fund must have been affected, he didn't have a shitload of gel in his hair anymore.   


“Look, I’m just trying to apologize-.” Pansy shook her head. Nope.

“You’ve got no reason to. At least, not to me.” Pansy said, keeping her voice level as she glowered at the boy, whose face immediately fell. Oh good. He saw his mistake.   


“You don’t mean-.” He started, and Pansy nodded. Yes. He needed to formally apologize to Hermione if he _ever_ thought he was getting forgiveness for the things he'd done and said.   


“You, Draco Malfoy, are at least partially responsible for why my girlfriend and my friends had to go on a life or death mission at the age of 17. You let those  _ people  _ into our school, knowing damn well how insane they are. Yes, I was tortured by Bellatrix, but I’ve more or less recovered fully. Hermione  _ never  _ will. She has to live with those fears, those memories forever. You fucked up her entire life.” Pansy snapped, her voice getting louder with every word as she backed Draco up against the wall, finger jabbed into his chest. He swallowed heavily and glanced around as if looking for support and  _ honestly  _ if anyone had given it to him, Pansy would’ve hexed them on the spot.   


“I never meant-.” He tried, and Pansy huffed and shook her head. At least own being a dickhead.   


“The fuck you didn’t! If you didn’t ‘mean’ for it to happen, then you would’ve at least tried to object, and you wouldn’t have used that word on her.  _ Ever _ .” Pansy spat, and that was enough to make Draco look sheepish as he kicked the ground. He looked so childish, it made Pansy want to scream. He was a  _ criminal _ , he wasn’t the one who was the victim here.   


“Well…” Draco started but she held up a hand to silence him. Oh, she was not sure if she’d make it through today without hexing the shit out of him.   


“You can’t logic that away. You treated her like  _ shit _ , even after she helped save you when you wanted to drown yourself in Black Lake. Even after she accepted you with open arms when you thought no one would. How  _ could  _ you?” Pansy snapped, narrowing her eyes as she dug her finger into his chest. She realized she'd never really thought about that side of it, how Hermione had put past her notions to make Draco feel a little safer, and he'd squandered it. What a fucking idiot.

“It wasn’t that black and white, I had no choice.” Draco insisted, and Pansy let out a scoff and shook her head. Oh, he must’ve forgotten her year. But she wasn’t afraid to remind him.   


“Oh, you had no choice? Is that right?” Pansy asked, and Draco furrowed his brows, clearly realizing this was a trap but not seeing a way out. Good. Pansy wanted to corner him in his fucking idiocy.    


“Yeah, if I didn’t do what they wanted they would’ve-.” Pansy arched an eyebrow. He wasn’t serious right now, right?   


“They would have what? Disowned you? Tried to kill you? Maybe even tortured you a little because a pureblood can’t be gay?” Pansy asked, and Draco’s face dropped, as if the parallels were finally kicking in. Pansy had realized them months ago, one of them had truly hadn’t had a choice in her future and the other could have stood up to his parents and probably been far happier. Pansy would’ve even let him be her roommate, but  _ no _ . He was convinced he was nothing without his money, without his power.   


“I’m sorry-.” He tried again, and Pansy shook her head. Because yeah, maybe he _did_ need to apologize to her too, but it would never be enough. There was no fixing the things he'd done.

“Sorry doesn’t  _ fucking  _ cut it! I’m angry, Draco! I’m  _ so  _ fucking angry at you that it keeps me awake at night, because you took my family away from me with one simple note that you  _ never  _ had to write, and yet… you didn’t have the balls to face the music when the same thing happened to you. I’m angry that every time I look in the mirror I have to see the scars that your aunt left in my skin as a punishment for not letting myself be your property. I’m angry that you let your _ fucking  _ father kidnap me when I’d never  _ ever  _ do that to you!” Pansy said, feeling her throat get scratchy as she forced the tears of frustration from her face, because she was not about to give him the satisfaction of seeing her cry right now.   


“... I fucked up, I know.” Draco mumbled, and Pansy even surprised herself with the loud laugh she let out, loud enough that it echoed down the corridor and made Draco jump. He was driving her over an edge.   


“Oh, you  _ know,  _ do you? Well, then I guess there’s nothing more to say! Everyone! Draco Malfoy is vindicated because he  _ knows  _ he fucked up! How wonderful is that! I guess I can just forget my trauma, and my girlfriend can finally stop waking up in a cold sweat every night!” Pansy called out loudly, not caring when a few students stopped walking to watch what was happening. Draco, on the other hand, cared immensely and dragged Pansy around a corner, into an empty hallway. She shook his hand off of her wrist and glared up at him. How dare he do that? She was just getting started.   


“Pansy, stop it-.” He pleaded, and Pansy arched an eyebrow, feeling dangerously off-kilter, like she was going to vibrate right out of her skin.   


“What? Is this too  _ much  _ for you? Too embarrassing to have a few people looking at you while someone finally talks to you the way you deserve? I was too nice last year, Malfoy. I should’ve hexed your dick off when you outed me, when you stayed friends with the boys who got me disowned. I should’ve  _ killed  _ you when I found out what side you chose. I should’ve told Dumbledore, McGongagall, fucking  _ anyone _ , but no. No, I still felt like I had to protect you, and that's the most fucked up part. You had me believing you were  _ helpless _ , that you needed someone to make sure you didn’t die. But you didn’t care-.” Draco's head snapped up, his brows furrowed.   


“I did-.” He tried, and Pansy shook her head, pulling her wand out swiftly, pressing it to his throat.   


“ _ DON’T  _ fucking interrupt me, you insolent little weasel!” Pansy snapped, and she saw Draco shrink back and blindly feel around for his wand. Was  _ he  _ seriously scared right now? If anyone had the right to be fearing for their life right now, it was the person who was cornered by a literal deatheater. Merlin, he was  _ such  _ a fucking coward.

“Right.” He sighed, leaning back on one leg as Pansy let the wand fall back down.

“You knew that Daphne got hit with an unforgivable curse from Nott and you did  _ nothing.  _ That’s yet another point where you showed that you gave a shit about no one but yourself. We were your  _ friends _ , Draco. We cared about you and you showed time and time again that you never returned that.” Pansy snapped, and Draco raised an eyebrow, looking confused. Oh that was _such_ fucking bullshit and Pansy knew it from the way he glanced around a bit.    


“I… I don’t remember Daphne getting hexed.” Draco said, looking lost, and Pansy rolled her eyes. Yeah, because she believed that. She wasn’t that fucking stupid.   


“Yeah. A couple days after that day in the hall when you hit me with that boil hex, when she and Tracey started dating. Because Theo decided that since he fucked Tracey once he had a say over her and her relationships. He called her a dyke and he hit her twice with an unforgivable curse. Guess which one?” Pansy asked, and she saw Draco wince as it sunk in. They were both no stranger to how it felt, she knew that.   


“The same one your parents used on you.” Draco mumbled, and Pansy chuckled and nodded, her face completely straight.

“Wow,  _ so  _ smart.” Pansy said, making sure her tone was sufficiently condescending, just to make him feel worse. She'd decided that it was her mission in life now to make Draco feel shitty.   


“Pansy, I didn’t even know that happened… If I had I would’ve-.” Pansy scoffed and rolled her eyes. She was beyond his fucking excuses right now.   


“Don’t pretend like you would have done  _ anything _ ! You wouldn’t have, the most you would’ve done is  _ maybe  _ write Theo up, but you were too wrapped up in your own fucking world to even do your prefect shit last year. You left me high and dry in  _ so  _ many different ways. Let. Me. By.” Pansy said, her teeth clenched, and Draco kept his hand on her wrist, a little tighter then what was called for as he looked her in the eyes. That's what sucked the most, was she still saw the eyes of the boy she'd known, and it almost always gave her a moment of pause.   


“Pansy-.” He tried, but before he could say anything more, Pansy heard a familiar voice call out to them.   


“Get your bloody hands off of her, Malfoy!” Oh, she couldn't think of a time she'd been happier to see Ginny Weasley, in all her glory. Thank Merlin.   


“Fuck off, Weasley. It’s not what it looks like-.” Draco snapped, and Ginny shook her head, taking a step closer as she slid her hand into Pansy's, staring Draco down all the while.   


“It looks like she told you to fuck off multiple times and you  _ ignored  _ her.” Ginny snapped, her eyes narrowing, and Pansy could see her skin getting splotchy, just like it always did over the summer when she argued with Fred and George. Draco opened his mouth to respond, but before he could, Pansy heard someone clear their throat and she saw Daphne and Tracey jogging towards them, only a _couple_ fucking minutes late, but better then never.

“Ginny’s right, that’s exactly what it looks like.” Tracey said, her eyes narrowed already, hand reaching up to pull her wand from where she'd tucked it into her hair this morning after Pansy had tossed it to her when she'd left it behind.   


“Mhm, she’s got a spot on observation.” Daphne sighed as she twisted her hair up quickly, and Pansy noted how Draco seemed to pale. He seemed to be realizing he couldn't win this fight as his hand dropped from Pansy's arm. She shook her wrist out. Good, she was starting to lose feeling.   


“Okay, I let go. I let her go.” Draco said quietly, and Ginny pulled Pansy quickly behind her, wrapping an arm back and around her to keep her tucked. It was sweet, but unneeded, she could've hurt Draco if she wanted to.   


“Wonderful. I’m not giving you the same treatment.  _ Stupefy _ .” Tracey said firmly, and Draco fell to the ground. The four of them froze and Daphne and Ginny shrugged at each other, both looking at Tracey with impressed expressions as the other witch smoothly tucked her wand back into the bun in her hair and she cracked her knuckles as she walked up to where Draco was lying, stoic.   


“Nicer than what I would’ve done.” Daphne mumbled, and it was as if she was saying something to set Tracey off, because Pansy's eyes widened as she watched Tracey wind up a kick.

“And  _ that _ ,” She said, punctuating the word with a swift, hard kick to Draco's nose, making Pansy grimace from the thought of how that felt. “Is for being such a stupid fucking cunt last year!” Tracey spat, and Pansy nodded. Fair. She thought he deserved a few more of those, but she'd leave that up to fate.   


“ _ That’s  _ more like it.” Ginny murmured, and Pansy watched her and Daphne tap the sides of their fists together, eyes still trained on Tracey as she flicked her hair back and made her way back to where they were standing, completely calm now.   


“Right, we should get out of here before-.”   


“Stop right there!” They froze again, and Pansy locked eyes with Daphne, who jerked her head at Ginny, the one who probably had the most to lose if she got in trouble right now. She could lose quidditch, and Pansy had heard the howler Ron had gotten second year, she couldn't imagine what Molly would say about something so violent.   


“Shit. Ginny, run.” Pansy whispered frantically, and Ginny furrowed her brows in confusion.   


“Why me?” Ginny asked, and Pansy rolled her eyes. She couldn’t just make doing a good thing easy.   


“You’re a sixth year, and we’re seventh years, meaning we can probably talk them down easier if it’s the three of us. Plus, this way only one house loses points and Hermione won’t lecture me later.” Pansy explained, but it didn’t seem to click for her.

“But-.” Ginny started, clearly conflicted as Daphne let out a sigh and steered Ginny further down the hall while looking behind her to make sure the professor hadn’t made it over yet.   


“She’s throwing you a lifeline, Weasley. You don’t want to risk getting suspended from Quidditch, do you?” Daphne asked, and Pansy an eyebrow at the Gryffindor. Honestly, could her damn honor code falter already? Pansy did  _ not  _ want to deal with a Howler from Molly about getting her daughter in trouble. Luckily, the quidditch comment seemed to get through to her.   


“... I’ll see you three later.” Ginny said, and Pansy chuckled and nodded, lightly shoving the younger Weasley away to give her a head start.   


“That’s what I thought.” She said, but luckily Ginny didn’t hear her, she was already gone. Good. That had been the goal. Now maybe they could make it before-.   


“ Stop right there!” They heard the voice ring out again, and Tracey looked at Pansy apologetically. Oh, they were going to be in deep shit. Pansy knew this when she realized there was no time to utter a countercurse before the professor got over here.

“Yes sir?” Pansy asked, and she turned to see Lupin running their way. Oh right. Because the universe had a sense of humor, just send over Potter’s family.   


“What… what happened here?” Remus asked, a little out of breath and  _ of course  _ it was him. Of course it was, because Pansy had hoped that she’d stay out of his radar when Harry announced that Remus was coming back. Not because Pansy had any sort of dislike for Remus, just the opposite. She respected him, and wanted the same from him… this was going to set her back a bit.   


“Um… he was like that when we got here!” Daphne said quickly, and Remus quirked an eyebrow and shook his head, almost chuckling, but staying professional. Shame, if it was  _ Sirius  _ who’d been offered a position, 

Pansy could probably convince him to look the other way, something about blood purists… but Remus was a bit too noble for that.   


“Ah. Yes. Because everyone’s nose gets crushed to the side when they’re lying on the floor.” He said, clearly joking, and Daphne shot him a fake smile that would've worked on most professors.   


“I’m glad we see eye to eye. Bye professor-.” She said, starting to back away, and he rolled his eyes, crossing his arms across his chest.   


“Don’t even try it. Parkinson. Greengrass. Davis. What happened here? The sooner you explain, the sooner we can all go.” He sighed, and Pansy nodded, clearing her throat.   


“He wouldn’t let me go, and they saw him put his hand on me and it… sort of spiraled from there.” Pansy mumbled, and Remus gave her an odd look as he glanced at where Draco was crumpled.

“Did Mr. Malfoy do anything to you?” He asked, raising an eyebrow and Pansy rolled her eyes. Was he honestly asking that question?   


“What  _ hasn’t  _ he done?” Pansy asked with a scoff, and Remus gave her a knowing look. Right. Pansy took a deep breath.   


“Pansy, obviously I mean in the present.” Remus said gently, and Pansy tried to force herself to remember that this was  _ Lupin _ . No way he liked Draco any more than she did, especially not after how he’d treated Harry last year.   


“Except for not allowing me to pass, no.” She sighed, knowing that wasn't enough to get her out of any detentions or meetings with McGonagall.   


“ And that’s no reason to break his nose.” He reasoned, his eyes trained on Pansy, who opened her mouth to accept the blame, because why not, when Tracey cleared her throat and sort of held her hand up to get his attention.

“That was… actually me.” Tracey piped up, and Pansy found Remus’s look of surprise rather comical. Like he couldn’t believe that it was anyone else but Pansy. Well… she certainly had wished it was her, it looked rather fun.   


“Well. I’m surprised. But either way, my statement stands. That’s no reason to break someone’s nose.” He said, and Tracey nodded quickly, taking a step back to fall in line on the opposite side of Daphne from where Pansy was.   


“Absolutely, I understand.” Tracey said, and Remus blinked in surprise as he fully straightened his back.   


“Really?” He asked, like that was hard to believe, and maybe it was because Draco was still on the ground, blood dripping from his nose, even as they spoke.   


“Yes." Tracey said, and Pansy and Daphne nodded along, deciding that she was probably the best one to talk right now, she was a lot more calm about things.   


“Good. Don’t let me catch you doing stuff like this again. Especially you, Pansy. You’re better then this, Molly would hate to hear this is happening already.” Remus said, and Pansy chewed on her lip, hating that she felt hot tears in the corners of her eyes. Remus probably hadn't meant to set that off, but she hadn’t felt like she’d disappointed someone in quite a while, she was out of practice. Luckily, Daphne seemed to notice and reached over without looking, linking their hands together with a comforting squeeze, like she’d done when they were younger and Pansy’s dad was being an ass. It helped.   


“Sorry sir.” Daphne piped up, obviously wanting this lecture to end. Pansy didn’t blame her, this was uncomfortable for all three of them.

“Right… sorry, Remus.” Pansy murmured, and they turned to leave, but he cleared his throat. Right. Of course they weren’t going to get off this easily even though Draco was a literal sack of shit for the things he’d done.   


“Girls.” He said, and Pansy hung her head as she turned back around. Fuck.   


“Yes?” Pansy asked, and his look of disappointment had returned, and somehow that was  _ worse  _ then having to deal with a different angry professor   


“You still need to face a consequence so… Detention.” Remus sighed, and then turned on his heel. Pansy watched until he disappeared back into his classroom and then she let out a frustrated groan and leaned against the wall.   


“Fuck.” She whispered.   


“Worth it.” Tracey mumbled, and Pansy was a little amused that she and Daphne seemed to give her the same look.

“Shut it, Tracey.” Pansy snapped, and she laughed and raised an eyebrow at her outburst.

“Are you disagreeing?” Tracey asked, and Pansy chuckled and shook her head, swinging an arm over each of their shoulders. Of course she wasn’t, she was fucking proud of Tracey for taking intiative.

“... No, but I’ve gotta at least seem like I care, right? Got a reputation to uphold now.” Pansy said with a smirk, flicking the hair out of her eye, being very careful to  _ ‘trip’  _ over Draco’s stunned body as they walked over him. He was damn lucky she didn’t also stomp on his face.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I'm sorry if any of the formatting is off, I'm working off a new set up and still getting used to it

The biggest drawback that Pansy had seen about having to take the head girl dorm was the fact that all of the things she did with Tracey and Daphne wouldn’t happen as often, that she’d be left out. What she hadn’t expected was the fact that Daphne was still on edge and would barely let her be alone, unless she was sleeping. But today, when she was normally at least relaxing before a patrol, she was being forced to go to a stupid party, where the only upside she had was the fact that Daphne had invited Hermione, same as she had the year before. That meant it wouldn’t be awful, but still…

“The first party of the year always sucks major ass.” Pansy sighed, rubbing under her eyeliner, smudging it slightly. Perfect. Daphne sighed and sat up, stretching as she did.

“Right? They never get good until, like, halfway through the year, I think it's because the first party is almost always dry and just an excuse for fifth years to attempt to hook up with each other because they feel they’re ‘old enough’ now.” Daphne said, putting air quotes around the words ‘old enough’, and Pansy furrowed her brows and turned around, resting her back against the wall as she regarded Daphne with curiosity.

“Isn’t Astoria a fifth year?” Pansy asked, and she and Tracey shared a knowing smile as Daphne grimaced and shook her head, leaning back a bit on her hands.  
  
“Ugh, don’t remind me. If I see a single boy so much as touch her, I’m going fucking feral on their hormonal ass, I swear to Merlin. No one touches my sister.” Daphne grumbled and wasn’t that super hypocritical.

“Oh come off it, isn’t that when you and Blaise first hooked up?” She asked, and Daphne’s face fell as she looked away from Pansy’s waiting eyes. Of course she was going to do that.

“That’s entirely different.” Daphne mumbled, and Pansy shook her head. As fucking if that was true, Merlin.

“No it's not.” Pansy sighed, and Daphne rolled her eyes. “Well… whatever. I’m gonna go let your girlfriend in.” Daphne said, standing up from her bed, not before pressing a quick kiss to Tracey’s lips. Sweet.

“Thanks.” Pansy said, giving her a half smile. It was, of course, wrong of her to assume that Daphne would do this without saying something that made her want to commit murder.

“And if she chooses to greet me the same way she greets you-.” Daphne started, and both Tracey and Pansy’s heads snapped up to glare at her. Good. It helped to have two people trying to intimidate Daphne, maybe she’d actually stop that way, especially since she was in love with one of them.

“I’ll fucking kill you.” Pansy snapped, and Daphne seemed completely unfazed.

“I’ll help.” Tracey said, and that was what seemed to cause Daphne discomfort. Fair, that was her girlfriend. “Merlin’s beard! I was kidding, where's your sense of humor?” Daphne asked, and Pansy shrugged. That wasn’t a question worth asking when it came to things like that, there was no humor needed, because it wasn’t a joke. It was just rude, “Gone when you say you want to fuck my girlfriend.” Pansy snapped, and Daphne faked a sigh of disappointment as she shook her head. Oh, how Pansy wanted to wring her neck.

“You make it sound so cheap.” Daphne sighed, and yeah maybe she was joking, but Pansy was not in the mood for having to laugh along right now, so she set her jaw and jutted her chin towards the door.

“Seriously. I will kick your ass, Greengrass.” Pansy said, her voice coming out dangerously low, and Daphne chuckled and shook her head.

“Going, going.” She called, and Pansy sighed and turned back to the mirror to make sure everything was in check. Good.

“Merlin, Tracey. She is a _handful_. How do you deal with her?” Pansy asked, and she watched a small smile spread across the other witches face as she shrugged.

“Well, I love her.” Tracey said and _yes_ that was obvious but what Pansy wanted to know was _why?_

“Surely there's something more? Like, I love her too but _still_.” Pansy sighed, and she saw a conflicted look flicker across the other witch’s face as she positioned herself a little bit away from where Pansy was sitting.

“I am not telling you about that.” She said, and Pansy raised an eyebrow. What was wrong with her question? She wasn’t even prying.

“Wha-oh. _Oh_. So not what I meant, sorry.” Pansy insisted, and Tracey let out the breath she’d been holding in and nodded.

“Good. And I don’t know, she’s so different when we’re alone. Soft. Sweet. It’s really cute. Plus, my parents love her, they always have. They keep talking about how I picked the perfect candidate for their future daughter in law.” She explained, and Pansy couldn’t help but smile at that. It was good that they were both happy, honestly she thought that everyone deserved a bit of happiness after the year that they’d had.

“That’s so fucking cute, Trace.” Pansy said, and she nodded.

“I know, right?” She asked. Their conversation stopped there, because the door swung open, and Daphne walked in with far too large a smile as she stepped to the side and gestured to the door.

“I come bearing a gift!” Daphne said, and Pansy heard Hermione sigh as she shoved the Slytherin’s arms out of the way and shot a quick glare at her.

“Hello, love.” Hermione sighed, and Pansy swallowed heavily because _of course_ Hermione looked hot as hell, she was expecting it… but expecting and seeing were two completely different things.

“Nothing to say to me? How rude.” Daphne said, but Hermione was quick to ignore her, making her way over to where Pansy was standing, rooted into the ground. Literally since _when_ did Hermione even own anything low cut? Not that she was complaining it was just surprising.

“So,” Hermione paused to press a lingering kiss to Pansy’s lips, her arms sliding around her waist. “ _Never_ let her let me in again.” She said when they broke apart, and Pansy was about to respond, but Daphne beat her to it.

“I was a perfect gentleman!” Daphne tried, and Hermione rolled her eyes and scoffed.

“Doesn’t mean you were _pleasant_.” Hermione snapped, not taking her eyes off of Pansy as she did.

“I was a fucking _delight_ , excuse you!” She countered, and Hermione huffed and turned around, staring the Slytherin down.

“In whose goddamn world was that you being a delight?!” Hermione asked, clearly a little frustrated by whatever had gone down in that hallway. Honestly, at this point Pansy was a little afraid to ask.

“Mine!” Daphne countered, and Hermione rolled her eyes.

“You’ve got a twisted world.” Hermione sighed, and Daphne nodded, giving her a half smile as she helped Tracey off the bed.

“Oh, you’ve got no idea, Granger. You two ready?” Daphne asked, and Pansy shrugged and nodded.

“Mhm. Lets hit it.” Pansy said, and she saw Daphne and Tracey both grimace before they spoke.

“Don’t say that. It makes you sound old.” Tracey said, her voice coming out with a certain level of disdain. How sweet of her.

“Really?” Pansy asked, and both the Slytherin’s looked at each other as Hermione remained quiet. How dare she take their side on this?

“Mhm. Ancient.” Daphne said, her voice grave, and Pansy rolled her eyes. Shame that they no longer slept in the same dorm, she’d totally charm her eyebrows off for that one.

“Fuck off.” Pansy snapped.

“Right. Come on, let's go.” Daphne said, leading them out of the dorm and into the crowded common room. For a moment they just stood in the doorway, before Tracey jutted her head to the side, to one of the few empty seating spots left, which they quickly claimed as theirs. Pansy tried to make her way towards the drink table, but she felt a hand on her shoulder, pulling her back.

“I’m gonna go grab us drinks.” Hermione said, and Pansy opened her mouth to protest, but before she could, Daphne stepped in front of her.

“I’ll come along.” She offered, and Hermione nodded

“Keep up, Greengrass.” She said, and Pansy watched as Daphne rolled her eyes and huffed.

“One hex, that’s all it would take. Just _one_.” Daphne mumbled, which earned her a smack to the back of her head before Pansy reached out and grabbed Hermione’s arm, stopping her in her tracks.

“Hermione, I can-.” She tried, but before she could finish, Daphne slid her arm through Hermione’s and they were on the move. How’d she managed that?

“Already going! Can’t hear you! _So_ loud!” Hermione called, turning around to flash a quick smile at her, and Pansy rolled her eyes and sat down, trying her best to look annoyed. Granted, that was almost impossible when someone as beautiful as Hermione smiled at her.

“Ugh.”

“She’s being polite, Pans.” Tracey tried, and Pansy sighed and nodded. She knew that, but still.

“Yeah, but she’s my guest, I can’t help but think I’m meant to be helping her.” Pansy reminded her, and she watched Tracey’s face shift for a moment before she responded to her.

“Something tells me she wants to be getting your drink.” Tracey said quickly, and Pansy raised an eyebrow. Why?

“Why would she… Oh.” Pansy sighed, narrowing her eyes at where Draco was standing near the drinks, his nose still slightly smushed to one side, his gaze bouncing all around the room like he was unsure of where he was supposed to be. Six feet under, that’s where, Pansy thought.

“She doesn’t want you getting detention for the second time already.” Tracey reminded her, and Pansy scoffed and shook her head, giving her friend a quick glare. There was no way Tracey was bringing up the detention that _she_ had literally caused, right?

“Okay to be fair… _you_ hexed him.” Pansy reminded her, and Tracey rolled her eyes and leaned against the wall as she looked down to where Pansy was seated.

“You let me.” Tracey pointed out, and Pansy looked up at her and raised an eyebrow. Was she honestly getting blamed for this right now?

“So it's my fault?” Pansy asked, letting out an amused chuckle as Tracey shrugged. So clearly it _was_ she just didn’t want to say that, alright.

“It’s no one's _fault_ you just should’ve stopped me.” She pointed out, and maybe she was right, as head girl Pansy was supposed to stop her. But still… rude.

“Wanker.” Pansy sighed, and Tracey nodded, pushing off the wall as she saw Daphne getting into a conversation that seemed less than friendly with Blaise. That should be fun, because confronting exes had gone _so_ far.

“I know. I know. I’m gonna go stop her before she does something stupid… like hexing him.” Tracey sighed, making her way quickly across the room to where Daphne was, wrapping her arms around her waist. Pansy thought it was sort of amazing how all the anger seemed to melt from Daphne’s body as she melted into Tracey’s touch.

“Mind if I sit?” Pansy heard someone ask, and she jumped, setting her jaw as she looked up. Oh. Just Hermione, that was something she was okay with.

“Sure, I can get you a chair, love-.” Pansy started, and Hermione rolled her eyes and sat down, swinging both of her legs to one side of Pansy’s lap so she could rest her head on her shoulder.

“Nope, I’m okay.” Hermione said, and Pansy blinked once before responding.

“I… Oh.” Pansy said quietly, sliding her hand over one of Hermione’s thighs quickly, and Hermione lifted her head and raised an eyebrow. Were her hands sweaty or something? Why did she act like that was weird?

“Problem?” She asked and Pansy shook her head. Certainly not a problem, that was for sure.

“Nope. Not a problem, not a single one.” Pansy said, her voice cracking on the last word, and she heard a small chuckle come from Hermione as she peered up at her.

“Your face is getting red, love.” Hermione murmured, and Pasny rolled her eyes. That was like saying ‘Oh! The sky is blue.’ It was obvious.

“ _You’re_ the one sitting on my lap, ‘Mione.” Pansy pointed out, and Hermione let out a small chuckle as she nodded.

“Oh, I know. I wasn’t saying I was surprised, I was merely making a comment. Here.” Hermione said, trying to hold out the drink to Pansy. She couldn’t hold it, one hand was on Hermione’s thigh and the other was wrapped around her for support, and she didn’t exactly feel like moving either of them.

“Thanks… I can’t hold it.” Pansy pointed out, and Hermione got an unreadable look on her face as she lifted her head up.

“No problem. Open your mouth.” Hermione said, as if that was a totally normal thing to say to someone out of context. Or in context… what even _was_ the fucking context right now?

“What? No.” She chuckled

“Just do it.” Hermione insisted, and Pansy shook her head. What was the plan? She knew none of what was happening, and that could either go very well or very poorly and she would bet money that with her luck it would end up being the second one.

“Why?” Pansy asked suspiciously and Hermione shrugged, tucking some of the hair out of her face as she shifted so she was facing Pansy on her lap, practically pressed into her. Yeah, because _this_ was appropriate for two head girls.

“I’m going to give you your drink.” Hermione said, as if it should have been obvious. Pansy furrowed her brows and shook her head, confused as to what her girlfriend was planning to do. Wait. She wasn’t… Oh. Pansy slowly processed the fact that Hermione had every intention of pouring the drink in her mouth herself which sounded hot if they weren’t in front of her _entire_ house.

“Hermione-.” She tried, but Hermione traced her jaw, making her quiet for a moment.

“I’m merely trying to help.” Hermione insisted, and for a moment Pansy almost believed her… almost. Until she saw the glint in her eye. Oh, so she was at least a _little_ aware of what she was doing.

“You’re trouble.” Pansy sighed, and Hermione raised an eyebrow, as if daring Pansy to say anything else, and somehow every word she had died on her tongue with that look.

“And you’re being stubborn.” Hermione insisted, and Pansy rolled her eyes. Maybe it was just easier to let her do what she was going to do.

“Fine.” Pansy sighed, opening her mouth. She squeaked in surprise when she felt Hermione’s hand resting under her chin, tipping her head back. Pansy’s breathing quickened as she looked up into Hermione’s face, her Gryffindor very focused on her task as she poured the liquid into Pansy’s mouth and leaned back when she was done, setting the empty cup down before running her thumb across Pansy’s lower lip to dry it, and then she slowly eased Pansy’s mouth shut. It honestly took a moment for Pansy’s brain to remember what the fuck was happening, and where the fuck she was. Right. Firewhiskey. Swallow. Once she did, Hermione smiled at her and pressed a quick kiss to her cheek.

“There. Was that so hard?” Hermione murmured, and Pansy let out a shaky sigh and shifted around, hoping it wasn’t as obvious to everyone else as it was to her that she was almost _painfully_ turned on right now. That would be absolutely horrifying.

“Uh… no. N-Not hard.” Pansy stammered, hating how much her voice betrayed her emotions right now. She had no idea what had been _hot_ about that, all she knew was she needed it to happen again, or something similar, or she would self destruct.

“Good. That’s what I thought.” Hermione murmured, patting her cheek lightly before pressing a lingering kiss to her lips.

“ _Fuck_.” Pansy breathed, apparently not quiet enough, because Hermione’s brows furrowed.

“Hm?” Hermione asked, raising her eyebrow and Pansy looked away. She was not talking about this within 20 feet of Tracey and Daphne, she’d never live it down.

“Nothing, just… something stuck in my throat.” Pansy lied, and Hermione cocked her head to the side, brow furrowed in concern as she cupped Pansy’s cheek softly.

“Do you need something more to drink-.” Pansy’s eyes widened as she cleared her throat, shaking her head.

“No! Or… uh… no, no I’m okay.” Pansy insisted. She couldn't handle that again right now, she was pretty sure she’d melt into the ground under the intensity of her girlfriend’s gaze. Her response seemed to be enough to make Hermione relax as the Gryffindor tucked her face against her shoulder, and Pansy brought her hands up off the sides of the couch to rest on Hermione’s back and thigh.

“Alright… Let me know if that changes.” Hermione said, still sounding worried as Pansy nodded.

“I will. You’ll be the first to know.” Pansy said, her voice coming out stinted and awkward and she grimaced as Hermione chuckled at her. Oh, that was a stupid thing to say. She should’ve just let it at ‘I will’

“I would certainly hope I would be, considering I’m literally on top of you.” Hermione said, and there was just _something_ about the way she said that… maybe the entire energy she was putting off tonight that sent a shiver down Pansy’s spine. Not that she was complaining.

“That you are.” Pansy breathed, and Hermione shifted back to her original position and cuddled into her side. Okay. She could catch her breath right now… at least if she didn’t look down and _right_ down Hermione’s shirt. It wasn’t like it was on purpose it just _happened_ , and just like that she was distracted again.

“So. How was detention?” Hermione asked, interrupting Pansy’s thoughts. She snapped her eyes to the ceiling and took a deep breath… detention… right. She could talk about that.

“Honestly, it wasn’t that bad. Just boring, luckily Remus didn’t make us like… write an essay or something. I watched this muggle movie this summer, I think it’s called something like… maybe Breakfast…” Pansy closed her eyes and snapped her fingers as she tried to think of the word, feeling Hermione’s finger lightly tracing her jaw as she did.

“Breakfast Club?” Hermione offered, and Pansy nodded. She’d gotten the first word right and that was a good start, she supposed.

“Yes! That. You know how their headmaster made them all write an essay?” Pansy asked, and Hermione nodded.

“Mhm.”

“Basically, I’ve decided that it is the worst thing that could happen to me in detention, it would bore me to fucking tears.” Pansy said, being 100% serious.

“You’re so dramatic.” Hermione said, a soft chuckle falling from her lips, and Pansy raised her eyebrow.

“Am I wrong?” Pansy asked, and Hermione sighed. Okay, so she was wrong, but _why_ was she wrong, like specifically?

“I don’t know, I’d prefer an essay to like… having to go in the Forbidden Forest or something like that.” Hermione sighed, and Pansy’s eyebrows shot up. She hadn’t heard anything about someone having to do that since first year when Draco had had to do it, but nothing since then. She thought it’d just gone out of style, like maybe they’d found a way to punish kids that _wasn’t_ a dangerous forest in the dead of night.

“They still _do_ that?” Pansy asked, shocked that _that_ was allowed but they couldn’t go out there alone. You’d think if it’s used as a punishment it could also be used as a reward of some kind.

“Mhm.” She mumbled

“Wait, for real? Even with Greyback still on the loose?” Pansy asked, and Hermione nodded. Well. That seemed dangerous, why would they do that. 

“Obviously full moons mean no detention in the forest.” She explained. Okay, so that was one day, but Bill was proof that Greyback gave zero shits if it was the full moon or not, he’d still maul someone.

“But it’s allowed?” Pansy asked, a little confused, and again Hermione nodded, like that was completely normal. It wasn’t, at least not in Pansy’s eyes.

“Yeah. It’s pretty safe, especially when Hagrid is taking you around. Like I would feel safer with Hagrid in the forest then I _ever_ did in a classroom with Snape.” Hermione reasoned, and that was something Pansy didn’t understand… except for the fact that Snape was a literal death eater, so maybe Hermione had a _small_ point.

“Touché.” Pansy said, not exactly agreeing, but she supposed they were treated very differently by the ex potions professor.

“He really was terrible sometimes, you know?” Hermione asked, and Pansy nodded, chewing nervously on her lower lip as she drummed her fingers on Hermione’s thigh.

“So I’ve heard.” She said quickly, and Hermione nodded.

“I know he wasn’t that bad to _you_ , but he was awful to me. Downright terrible.” Hermione reminded her and Pansy winced at the memory of how awful Snape had been. And how she let it happen, granted they weren’t even friends at that point, but it should have been basic human etiquette to say something in that situation, if not to be a good person, at least because she was a prefect.

“I remember. And I am sorry that that happened.” Pansy murmured, and Hermione shook her head.

“Literally out of your control.” Hermione reminded her. Of course she knew that, but it didn’t piss her off any less.

“Still annoys me that someone would treat my girlfriend like that. You’re so smart, and you deserve to be allowed to feel like you are.” She said, and she watched a small smile spread across Hermione’s face as she leaned up to press a kiss to Pansy’s jaw, short and sweet.

“Hm. You’re sweet.” Hermione sighed, resting her head back on Pansy’s shoulder.

“Only when it's you.” Pansy murmured, pressing a light kiss to the side of Hermione’s head as she laced their fingers together on their laps. Hermione, for her part, let out an amused chuckle and nodded.

“Oh, I know. I heard about how you approved of Tracey’s reaction to Draco.” Hermione said, raising her eyebrow. Pansy chuckled and nodded, thinking fondly of the memory of Tracey slamming her foot into Draco’s face.

“More than approved. I wish I’d done that, it looked _so_ satisfying to finally kick that wanker.” Pansy sighed

“I’m glad you didn’t.” Hermione said, and Pansy looked at her, a little surprised. Had he finally apologized for the shit he’d done?

“Why?” Pansy asked. She would have thought that Hermione would love the idea of her beating up a bully instead of siding with him.

“As much as I’m happy to patch you up, I really don’t want your head girl privileges suspended, because that would just be a nuisance to both of us.” Hermione murmured, and Pansy shivered, knowing exactly what Hermione was implying. The single dorm, and the illusion of actual privacy.

“I suppose so.” Pansy responded, closing her eyes as she felt Hermione’s hand cupping her jaw, pulling her into a slow kiss. It was a nice moment, and to the outside world looked sweet and uncharged… so there was no reason for Daphne to interrupt them. But she did. Of course.

“Break it up, this is a family friendly venue, you heathens.” Daphne said as she sat across from them, kicking her feet up on the table. Pansy sighed and rolled her eyes because _honestly_ Daphne had no grounds to stand on.

“Daphne. There are literally two students hooking up on the couch not five feet from you.”

“Mhm. Let’s see how I handle it.” Daphne said, turning to the two fifth years on the couch and flicking the boy on the ear. That seemed to get their attention. “Oi! No one wants to see your special snake, take it to your dorm.” She snapped, and Pansy felt rather bad for the girl, she looked so embarrassed as she straightened out her shirt and flattened her hair, and she had half a mind to tell Pansy to leave her alone… and then the boy _spoke_.

“No one asked-.” He started, and Daphne raised a hand to silence him and arched her brow.

“To have to watch the two of you hook up? I know, now move it along.” She snapped, and the boy huffed as he stood up.

“Bitch…” He snapped, pulling the girl behind him, who mouthed an apology, which Pansy shrugged at and waved off. It wasn’t like she was doing anything that Daphne herself hadn’t done, but it was nice that she wasn’t the one having to keep people in check, despite her title.

“Well, Daphne. I’m impressed.” Hermione admitted, and Pansy watched the Slytherin shrug, but she also saw the flush of pride on Daphne's face.

“They were being gross, I wasn’t putting up with that-.” She wasn’t able to finish her sentence before someone cleared their throat, quickly interrupting them.

“Love?” Tracey asked softly, and Daphne’s head snapped up so quickly that Pansy was shocked she didn’t get whiplash.

“Yeah?” Daphne asked, her tone changing instantly to something sweet and soft, something Pansy knew was specifically reserved for Tracey, even before they were together. Tracey had just always been her person.

“I’m a little tired, do you mind if I rest my head?” Tacey asked and Daphne shook her head, scooting back on the couch as she patted one thigh.

“Not at all. C’mere.” Daphne said, and Tracey gave her a small smile before sitting down and settling her head on her lap.

“How sweet.” Hermione said with a smirk, and Pansy could feel the annoyance rolling off her friend. It wasn’t like Hermione had lied, it was sweet, but Daphne probably felt like she had to keep up with her reputation, which Pansy understood. She’d faked a whole relationship for hers so she could exactly lecture her.

“I’ll break your arm.” Daphne warned, eyes not leaving her girlfriend’s face, like she was afraid to look away in case she’d miss anything. It was sweet, Pansy thought, that they were still in that phase of new love. But Hermione merely shrugged at what Daphne said before speaking.

“Not the one I’d be afraid of breaking my bones, honestly.” She said, and Daphne snapped her head up and glared at her, placing a hand over either of Tracey’s ear, causing the half asleep witch to let out an amused chuckle.

“Oi!” Daphne hissed, and Hermione shrugged. Honestly, Pansy agreed with Hermione. If she was going to be afraid of either of them it would be Tracey.

“Can you blame me? She _recently_ broke someone’s nose.” Hermione pointed out, and Daphne watched as a giddy smile spread across Daphne’s face.

“I know. I love her so much.” Daphne sighed as she ran her fingers through Tracey’s hair. Made sense, Pansy thought, that making Daphne fall even further in love, she did seem like the type to be attracted to Tracey’s more ‘stereotypically Slytherin’ side.

“Merlin’s beard, Slytherin’s are confusing.” Hermione sighed, leaning back a bit. Pansy raised her eyebrow and glanced at her out of her peripheral.

“Love, you’re _dating_ one of us.” Pansy reminded her, and she was quickly waved off as Hermione kept looking at Daphne and Tracey’s interactions with confusion. It shouldn’t have been confusing, they were best friends first, of course Daphne was going to love every part of her even the questionable ones.

“You’re easy.” Hermione said, probably not even noticing how that sounded, but Pansy decided to have some fun with it.

“I’m _what_?” Pansy asked, perfectly using a voice that conveyed fake hurt. Hermione gave her a shocked look and reached up to cup her face.

“Not what I meant!” She insisted, and Pansy chewed on her lower lip as she looked away from where the other witch was looking up at her.

“It’s too late. The damage is done!” Pansy sighed, and Hermione rolled her eyes and gave her a look. Pansy shrugged and crossed her arms, practically forcing Hermione to play along.

“Aw, c’mon Pans. Forgive me?” Hermione asked, clasping her hands together in a fake sort of muggle prayer stance. It was cute.

“I’ll think about it.” Pansy said with a smirk, and Hermione raised her eyebrow as she leaned in, causing a shiver to run through Pansy’s body as she breathed lightly over her ear.

“I’m not worried. I can be very… convincing.” Hermione murmured, pressing a featherlight kiss just below Pansy’s ear, causing her to take a deep breath and close her eyes for a moment, just to make sure she didn’t react as much as she _could_ . Because if Daphne had been that mean to complete strangers, she would make Pansy’s life _hell_.

“ _... Merlin_.” She whispered, and for a moment, it was like Hermione was the only person in the room… and then Daphne opened her fucking mouth and ruined it.

“You two need to get a fucking room, I swear to Merlin.” Daphne sighed, taking another sip from her glass as she ran her fingers through Tracey’s hair, smiling down at the sleeping girl.

“That’s the plan, Greengrass.” Hermione smirked and Pansy had never been happier for the fact that she was head girl, the dorm was about the only perk she planned on using.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW/CW: Sexual content

Well. Pansy had certainly gotten herself into some  _ interesting  _ situations over the years - held at knifepoint, nearly obliviated by her own father, teaching her house elf how to dance secretly to muggle music in third year, the sheer  _ amount  _ of times that she’d walked in on Blaise and Daphne when they were together- but normally she could at least tell how she got from point A to point B… not this time. She could not figure out how she’d convinced  _ Hermione Jean Granger _ to pull her into an empty classroom so they could hook up,  _ in the middle of the day no less _ . It seemed insane even to her, and she was experiencing it firsthand, feeling Hermione’s hands wander over her body as she kissed down her neck, causing a soft moan to roll from her mouth. Apparently not quiet enough because Hermione went rigid and lifted a hand to cover her mouth before kissing back up her neck.

“Quiet, love. You can do that for me, can’t you?” Hermione asked, murmuring into her ear as she did. Pansy’s jaw dropped slightly as she let her head roll back, staring at the cracks in the ceiling as Hermione sucked a light mark into her neck, pulling her even closer by her waist. As if that was possible, Pansy’s thighs were already locked around her, she wasn’t going anywhere.

“‘Mione, I-.” She tried, but suddenly Hermione’s hand was back on her mouth, the other wrapped around her tie to pull her close as she glanced around worriedly for a moment before glancing down, moving the hand from Pansy’s mouth to press a finger to her own.

“Sh. Hear someone.” Hermione mumbled, letting go of Pansy’s tie as she leaned a little bit back to see if the sound was gone, which led to Pansy nearly falling off the table she was on. Wonderful.

“Well, if we weren’t doing this in a classroom, maybe we wouldn’t be hearing people.” Pansy sighed as she ran a hand through her messed up hair, trying to make it look semi-presentable in case someone did indeed come in and check. Granted, that wouldn’t do much considering the fact that Hermione was standing between her legs, so her intentions would be  _ very  _ clear to any poor soul that wandered in before they got the chance to separate. Apparently, her pointing this out was a little funny to the Gryffindor, who chuckled and lightly ran a finger down the front of Pansy’s neck, stopping just shy of where she’d unbuttoned her shirt.

“ _ You’re  _ literally the one who started this, might I remind you.” She said softly, and Pansy cleared her throat and nodded, shifting around to try and relieve  _ some  _ of what she was feeling. Futile effort, but she still tried it, as it would make talking far easier if that was what Hermione wanted now.

“And I fully intend to finish it-.” Pansy started, and Hermione chuckled and shook her head, fully tugging Pansy’s tie free, tucking it away in her robe before she spoke. Merlin, Pansy hoped she remembered to give that back. If they didn’t want to get caught, the best bet was to appear like nothing happened after they were done, she’d learned that from Daphne.

“Do you want to try and make it back to your dorm without raising any eyebrows?” Hermione asked, and Pansy shrugged. It wouldn’t be that hard, they were pretty close… maybe a three minute walk if they were fast.

“Uh… I mean, it’s not like anyone would  _ ask _ what we were doing.” She pointed out, and Hermione shook her head and sighed, leaning close as she cupped either of Pansy’s cheeks.

“Ginny, Tracey, Daphne, Parvati, Lavender. They’d all ask  _ just  _ for the opportunity to make one of us squirm and you know it.” Hermione reminded her, and Pansy grimaced as she turned her head to kiss the palm of Hermione’s hand. For just a moment she’d forgotten the kind of people she was closest with. Luna was probably the only one who’d let them go, but she would probably make a comment about having fun or nargles and that might just be more awkward than being outwardly called out.  


“... I mean… Yeah, you’re right.” Pansy sighed, and she watched as the Gryffindor’s mouth turned up at the corner as she leaned forward again, stopping a mere inch from Pansy’s lips, which wasn’t fair. It was nearly impossible to focus on a conversation when Hermione was so obviously glancing between her eyes and her lips, like she always did when she wanted things to move along. It was a move that never failed to leave Pansy speechless, one way or another.

“So, are we calling a raincheck or finishing this now?” She asked, and Pansy blinked a few times, trying to remember what the question was about. Oh. Right. Finishing this right now, yeah. That sounded far better than waiting.

“Now… But cast a silencing charm… or another one.” Pansy said and Hermione didn’t give her shit for asking that, not that she thought she would but still… sometimes it was hard to remember that bullying isn't  _ everyone’s  _ love language. No, instead Hermione just leaned back, murmured the charm and pulled her close again

“Done.” She said, and Pansy nodded curtly, leaning up a bit to close the distance again, letting her eyes flutter shut for a moment.

“Kiss me.” Pansy commanded, and she couldn’t figure out why that made Hermione pause and shake her head, biting back a smile as she leaned back a bit again.

“Okay, can I just point out that it’s a bit funny when you try to tell me what to do when  _ I’m  _ the one standing, and the one whose still fully clothed.” Hermione pointed out, and Pansy felt her cheeks burn as she glanced away from her girlfriend’s penetrating gaze. That wasn’t fair, it wasn’t like she could easily stand up and level the playing field, Hermione made that damn near impossible.

“I… Well… Shut up.” Pansy snapped, and Hermione laughed and raised an eyebrow.  _ This wasn’t funny _ . At least not to Pansy.

“Mmm, you just don’t want to admit that I’m right.” Hermione mumbled, pressing a small kiss to the corner of Pansy’s lips. The other witch was almost ashamed at how her heart sped up at even that little movement, because she was  _ far  _ too invested in this. And if it didn’t last forever it would probably end with her destroyed, but now was not the time to think about that, it wasn’t going to help anything to get self conscious now.

“Exactly.” Pansy grumbled, her eyes narrowing as her Gryffindor gave her another smirk. Merlin, she wanted to wipe it right off of her face, and she would. She  _ could _ .

“Hah.” Hermione breathed as Pansy leaned in to suck a small mark just above her collar. A small part of Pansy was a bit thrilled that it was in a spot that wasn’t _that_ easily hidden, because ever since Hermione had helped Harry kill Voldemort, she seemed to have admirers around every corner, admirers who didn’t care that she had a girlfriend, that she was _happily_ taken by a very short tempered Slytherin. It was starting to get on her nerves, so she figured the school would benefit from a nonviolent reminder not to fuck with her.

“Are you just gonna make fun of me, or are we actually going to-.” She didn’t get to finish that sentence before Hermione was diving in, causing Pansy to let out a small gasp of surprise, which quickly turned to a groan when Hermione slipped her tongue between her lips. Merlin, honestly, if they stopped here Pansy wouldn’t be complaining, she’d just missed the intimacy, in any capacity, which made her sound _so_ stupid, so weak… but it was true, and she’d been working on honesty with herself.

“I think we’ve figured out why you could never be a Hufflepuff. You have _no_ patience.” Hermione said with a small chuckle as they separated, both of them breathing heavily. Pansy reached up and twisted her fingers into Hermione’s hair before pressing another quick kiss to her waiting lips.

“You love it.” Pansy murmured, and the Gryffindor nodded, leaning down to press another kiss to Pansy’s pulse point before raising her head again to meet her gaze. If this was the pace they were going to go at, they were  _ for sure  _ going to miss the rest of their classes today… not that Pansy was  _ complaining  _ of course, it was just an observation.

“Did I say I didn’t?” Hermione asked, eyebrow arching, and Pansy shrugged, playing with the hair at the nape of Hermione’s neck as she spoke.

“Well, no but-.” And the Gryffindor nodded, sliding an arm down around Pansy’s waist as she pressed even closer.

“Exactly, love.” Hermione murmured, closing the distance between their lips as she slid her hand over Pansy’s shirt, reaching up to cup her breast.

“ _ Oh _ .” Pansy sighed, letting her head tip back at even that small sensation. It’d been too long, she decided. Well, she’d decided that  _ earlier _ , this just confirmed it even more.

“Hm?” Hermione asked, and Pansy shook her head, looking back down at her girlfriend with a small smile and a shrug. It wasn’t anything bad, even though she was 90% sure Hermione currently thought it might be.

“Nothing, I’ve just missed this.” She admitted, and Hermione beamed at that.

“Me too. I hated that we ran out of time after the party.” Hermione said, and Pansy nodded. That  _ had  _ been rather annoying, especially considering how much Hermione had decided to tease her that night. But, when they got back to Pansy’s dorm it was only a minute before the Gryffindor had fallen asleep. That wasn’t what had bothered Pansy, it was the fact that if Daphne had just  _ let them go  _ and didn’t feel the need to talk for  _ hours  _ while Tracey slept, they would’ve had time for both. So she’d been annoyed with Daphne, never with Hermione.

“Mhm. I still loved spending the night beside you.” Pansy explained, and that made her girlfriend’s face light up even more for some reason.

“Really?” She asked. Wait… did she not already know that?  _ How  _ did she not already know that?

“Yeah, that was lovely.” Pansy said, confused about how that was even a question. She’d been very vocal about preferring nights where her girlfriend was tucked against her side to those where she was alone. But every time, Hermione acted like it was the first time she’d heard that information, like it was some giant shock.

“I’m glad.” The Gryffindor murmured, pressing a quick kiss to Pansy’s jaw.

“You’re my girlfriend, Hermione. Suffice to say I like this relationship for more than just the sex… although that _is_ a huge perk, I have to say.” Pansy said, a smirk spreading across her lips. Hermione chewed on her lip as she raised an eyebrow, running her hands down to untuck Pansy’s shirt, running her fingers along the skin of her stomach.

“That so?” Hermione asked, ducking down again to suck a patch of skin between her lips, biting down slightly. Pansy let out a low groan and arched into her a bit. Yeah, that was going to leave a longer mark for sure. Which was probably completely what Hermione had been planning on.

“ _Yes_.” Pansy sighed, and then she was cold for a moment, and when she opened her eyes, Hermione was kneeling between her thighs, which only caused her breathing to quicken even more as she lifted her hips, allowing the Gryffindor to pull her panties down her legs before running her hand back up, stopping just shy of where Pansy wanted her. Oh, what a _wanker._ She was quite lucky that she was so fucking hot, honestly or perhaps Pansy wouldn't even bother. But even in joking, Pansy knew that was a lie. She'd always bother.

“Now, we have to be smart about this… like, strategic because if we get caught-.” Pansy knew exactly what Hermione was going to say, and she knew that she had a lot less issue just saying it point blank, so she interrupted.

“You don’t want me to be naked on a table because a teacher finding me that way is grounds for expulsion.” She sighed, and she found it cute how sheepish Hermione managed to look, even with her current position. That was a talent _for sure._

“... Yeah. That.” Hermione mumbled, and Pansy gave her a reassuring smile and nodded. She knew that was what Hermione was worried about.

“Good. I’m glad we’re on the same page, I’d like that to not happen as well, I don’t think I have the status to live that shit down, after all I’m only a disowned, disgraced ex heiress.”

“Your pillow talk needs work, dear.” Hermione sighed, the ghost of her smile on her face as she looked up from where she had paused between Pansy’s thighs. She couldn’t help but let out a laugh as she ran her fingers through the Gryffindor’s hair.

“Are you saying you _don’t_ want to talk about my tragic backstory before you fuck me? How disappointing.” Pansy joked, and Hermione leaned back even further and pinched the bridge of her nose as she shook her head, clearly keeping down a smile.

“Merlin, I love you but sometimes you’re just _so_ strange.” Hermione sighed, and Pansy shrugged, tracing the tip of her finger over Hermione’s features as she spoke.

“All part of my charm, right?” She reasoned, and Hermione snorted and nodded, looking up at her again.

“Oh, absolutely.”

“Charming enough to move this along a bit?” Pansy asked hopefully, and Hermione let out a quiet chuckle and slid her hands back on top of Pansy’s thighs.

“Again with you lacking patience.” She sighed, and Pansy raised an eyebrow. Was that seriously what she’d just said? What about _this_ situation said that Pansy wanted to be patient _at fucking all_?

“Oh _I’m_ sorry, would you be very patient if _I_ was kneeling between _your_ thighs?” Pansy asked, arching her brow. She quite liked the way Hermione seemed to struggle for words for a moment, it made her a bit too self satisfied that she could make Hermione Granger speechless so easily. It was a power no one would be able to gracefully manage, that was for sure.

“Well-.” She started, and Pansy arched a brow. Was she going to attempt to _deny_ it?

“No. The answer is no, I already know that.” Pansy teased, and Hermione sighed and rolled her eyes, giving her a look, punctuating it by dragging her blunt nails slowly down the tops of Pansy’s thighs.

“You’re so cocky.” She chuckled, and Pansy shrugged. Of course she was, who would she be if she wasn’t, honestly?

“Again, tragic upbringing-.” Pansy tried, and Hermione let out a long sigh and rolled her eyes. Okay, so the joke _might_ be played out.

“ _Enough_ with that… just for now.” Hermione insisted, patting her thigh lightly, and Pansy raised an eyebrow.

“Taking you out of the moment?” Pansy asked, and Hermione nodded. Oh. Well. That was not what she’d been trying to do, good to know that that was how it was registering so she didn’t push it any further… right now.

“Mhm. It’s making me want to go hex the fuck out of your parents, and I’d rather be doing something else right now.” Hermione sighed, and Pansy gave her a quick grin as she tugged lightly on the Gryffindor’s locks.

“Nothing’s stopping you.” Pansy pointed out, and Hermione grinned up at her, scratching her nails down again.

“Is that so?” She asked, and Pansy’s breathing quickened as Hermione’s head began to duck, and she let her eyes flutter shut.

“Yeah, you’re the one holding this _up_.” Pansy said, her last word coming out as a pant as she felt Hermione’s tongue run up her soaked folds. A little embarrassing how quickly the Gryffindor could make her lose her cool, her control. It was even worse when she opened her eyes to see that Hermione had stopped, and was giving her a leering smirk. _Merlin_ , this woman was going to be the death of her, one way or another.

“Hm? What was that?” Hermione asked, and Pansy rolled her eyes as Hermione leaned back in, making her let out a relieved breath as she held her breath for a moment, trying to relax a bit, because if she didn’t then this would end _so_ quickly.

“Nothing just keep… keep doing _that_ , please.” Pansy sighed, rocking against her tongue, but apparently that wasn’t clear enough because Hermione pulled back, causing Pansy to make an annoyed sound at the loss of contact. She _had_ to know that this was  going to set her on edge, right?

“Only that?” She asked, and Pansy groaned and shook her head, forcing a fake smile on her face.

“Obviously _not_ , you know what I mean.” Pansy said through gritted teeth, trying to guide Hermione’s head back down, but she held strong. Damnit.

“Maybe I need directions.” Hermione teased, and Pansy raised an eyebrow and gave her a look. She could _not_ be serious right now, right?

“I happen to know for a fact that the smartest witch in our year does not need instructions on how to fuck her girlfriend.”

“You make it sound cheap.” Hermione mumbled, and that caused Pansy to let out a true laugh because honestly what were the _odds_ of Hermione saying the exact same thing Daphne had joked about when she wasn’t in the room?

“Funny, Daphne said the same thing before the party… but that was more her referencing the idea of the two of you fucking.”

“I’d _never_ do that. Not to mention, she’s not my type, and I’m a far cry from hers.” Hermione reminded her, and Pansy nodded. She knew that, it had just been a bit funny.

“That’s true I suppose. Though I can’t imagine why you’re not her type. Reckon you’re damn near everyone’s type at this point… given the little fan club you’ve got following you around.” Pansy mumbled, kicking herself that she’d let that slip out, because Hermione leaned back, looking up with concern.

“Is there something bothering you?” She asked, and Pansy knew it would probably be healthier to just talk about it, but the thought of that sounded _horrible_. Besides, she’d rather both of their mouths were put to better use than talking about _feelings_.

“Just… no. There isn’t.” Pansy said quietly, but she knew it was impossible to lie to Hermione at that point, especially when Hermione raised an eyebrow and tilted her head, meaning she for sure was not buying any of that.

“Pansy…” She tried again, and Pansy looked away from her. She hadn’t even meant to say anything, _why_ did this have to be a stupid conversation _right now_ of all times?

“Hm?” The Slytherin mumbled, and she heard Hermione clear her throat, and she looked back at her girlfriend, whose gaze was entirely soft, very vulnerable.

“Please don’t shut me out, _especially_ not right now.” Hermione insisted, her voice soft and sweet. Pansy sighed and rolled her eyes because _of course_ she was no match for Hermione when she looked like that.

“I guess… part of me gets a little insecure, a little _frustrated_ at how many people are suddenly into you. And _maybe_ a small part of me thinks you’re going to go off and find someone better for you.” Pansy admitted, even surprising herself. She hadn’t even realized she’d been feeling like that. Hermione scoffed and shook her head at the whole idea, clearly not thinking it had any value, that it wasn’t rooted in any truth.

“What a ridiculous idea. For starters, there is no one better than me, and secondly, I don’t even notice those kids. Because the second you walk into a room… everyone else pales in comparison. And we live in the United Kingdom, quite a few of them are very pale to begin with.” Hermione joked, her mouth tugging up at the corners, and Pansy shook her head and sighed, feeling a small smile on her face.

“That was an awful joke.” Pansy said, chuckling a little as she did. An awful joke that did just what Hermione had been intending to do, it took her mind off of the stupid fucking kids that thought they were entitled to a date with her.

“But it made you laugh, right?” Hermione asked, and Pansy rolled her eyes and sighed as she nodded. Of course it did, she’d probably laugh at the shittiest joke if it was Hermione telling it, there was just something about her delivery that absolutely  _ killed _ it.

“Yes. I suppose so.” Pansy admitted, and Hermione let out a sigh of relief as she nodded.

“Good. Now. Do you still want this. Because we can stop-.” The Slytherin was quick to shake her head. That was not what she’d wanted, that was what she’d been trying to avoid by moving their conversation along, it’d been  _ Hermione  _ who’d wanted to talk about her feelings in the first place!

“No! No, I… I really want this, I just got in my head for a moment.” Pansy insisted, and Hermione didn’t look completely convinced.

“You’re sure?” She asked, and Pansy nodded again. It was sweet how much she was checking in, but right now the  _ last  _ bloody thing Pansy wanted was for them to stop.

“Hermione. I’m  _ very  _ fucking sure.” Pansy said, and she watched as Hermione’s eyes closed for a moment and she took a deep breath, which Pansy hoped was just her regathering her cool, and not her wanting to back out. Not that she’d be upset, the rest of the day would just probably be a tad uncomfortable.

“Okay.” Hermione finally said, and she ducked her head back between Pansy’s thighs, sucking a quick mark into her thigh before sliding her tongue over her folds, causing Pansy’s breath to catch in her throat as she dug her fingers deeper into Hermione’s hair, her body threatening to fall back, but she didn’t let it. She liked looking down at the girl between her thighs too much for that.

“ _ Merlin _ , Hermione. Just like that.” Pansy sighed as Hermione’s tongue circled her clit before tracing back down, and up again, repeating that pattern. That was one positive that Pansy had found about being in a long term relationship. Hermione knew exactly how to take her apart, she’d never had to deal with the frustration her friends spoke about, which made it all the more worth it.

“This okay?” Hermione asked, lifting up for a moment she slid a finger inside of Pansy, causing her to let out a high gasp as she nodded, biting down on her lip. It would be even harder to explain what they were doing if she broke the silencing spell in any way, she was sure of it.

“Yes! Yes, that's perfect, love.” Pansy moaned, spreading her legs a bit further as Hermione crooked her fingers, hitting the perfect spot to make Pansy’s back arch as she let out a loud moan. And just like that she was  _ so  _ happy that it was Hermione who’d casted the silencing charm and not her. Even more so when Hermione slowly slid in a second finger, causing Pansy to writhe as she bit back another moan, her head hanging for a moment as Hermione’s tongue lifted for a moment.

“You’re doing so well, Pans.” She murmured, and then dove back in, sucking her clit between her lips, running her tongue over it. With that movement, Pansy knew she wasn’t lasting much longer, she could already feel her stomach starting to coil as she let out a small whimper, throwing her head back. Merlin, Hermione had a way of being  _ ungodly  _ good at this… not that Pansy was at all complaining.

“H-Hermione… please…” She gasped, and the Gryffindor looked up at her and  _ fuck  _ if that wasn’t even sexier then the rest of what she’d done. The intensity of her gaze from where she was trapped between Pansy’s thighs nearly sent her over the edge.

“Hm?” She asked, the noise vibrating against Pansy’s skin, causing her to jump. Fuck, if she did that again… that would be it.

“I’m…” Pansy groaned, feeling her legs beginning to shake, meaning she was  _ incredibly  _ close… almost embarrassingly quick.

“Let go, Pans. I’ve got you.” Hermione murmured, pulling her face back as she linked her free hand with Pansy, the other still curling her fingers deep inside the Slytherin. Pansy let out a low groan and gripped her hand tightly, her other scratching across the grains in the table as she began to buck her hips against the movements. If she had her wits about her, she’d probably have the decency to at least be a  _ little  _ embarrassed about how desperate she probably looked right now, but that was currently the last thing on her mind.

“ _ Fuck _ , Hermione. I-.” Her climax hit her without warning, causing her to cry out as her vision went white for a moment, and her thighs tried to close. Futile attempt, what with Hermione being between them, working her through it until she slumped back a bit, breathless as she held herself up with one arm as Hermione slid her fingers out, wiping them on Pansy’s inner thigh before clearing her throat.

“You always look so pretty when you do that, Pans.” Hermione sighed, resting her head on Pansy’s thigh for a moment as the Slytherin caught her breath, still a little scatterbrained, a little out of it. Now she was  _ for sure  _ hoping that they’d missed the rest of her classes, because she was useless for them either way.

“Merlin’s  _ fucking  _ beard, ‘Mione.” Pansy panted, still not fully caught back up to where she was or how loud she’d been or any of the stuff she’d normally worry about. She couldn’t really bring herself to care at the moment, if someone had heard, that was their problem. Hopefully they just kept their fucking mouth shut.

“You were perfect, love. So perfect.” Hermione murmured as she pressed a kiss to either of Pansy’s thighs before working her way up, kissing any exposed skin she could find while rebuttoning the top of Pansy’s shirt, causing the Slytherin to furrow her brows.

“What about you-.” She started, and Hermione lifted her head fully and took both her hands, squeezing them quickly.

“No time right now, you can make it up to me later.” Hermione insisted, kissing the backs of either of Pansy’s hands. The Slytherin let a small smile play on her lips as she nodded, wanting to be in a proper bed when she returned the favor because while that was hot, her back was  _ killing  _ her from the angle.

“Perfect.” She said, and Hermione nodded, both of them pausing. Maybe Pansy could  _ actually  _ convince her to blow off the rest of the day… 

“Now come on, we’re already late for class.” Hermione said, and Pansy let out a long sigh. So they hadn’t missed them all, then. Fuck.

“Right.” Pansy mumbled, suddenly feeling a bit awkward when she paused “Well... that was… new.” She said, clearing her throat as she quickly pulled her panties back up her thighs and smoothed out her skirt, hopping down from where she’d been sitting. She gratefully took Hermione’s hand for a moment to steady herself before making eye contact with the Gryffindor, a little surprised to find a look of hesitation there.

“Bad new?” Hemione asked, clearly a little nervous and Pansy widened her eyes as she shook her head.

“Not even slightly.” Pansy said quickly, not wanting Hermione to think that she hadn’t  _ thoroughly  _ enjoyed herself when they’d done that. Merlin, she had. This was luckily enough to calm Hermione, who leaned in to press a quick kiss to her cheek.

“Good. Good to know. But…” Hermione trailed off and Pansy raised an eyebrow at her, confused by the small smile ghosted on Hermione’s face. It was so self satisfied, Pansy had to know why.

“Hm?” She asked, trying to prompt Hermione to further explain

“You’re right. Next time we should wait until we’re in one of our dorms.” Hermione sighed as she finished straightening her tie, and Pansy raised an eyebrow as she turned to cast a cursory  _ scourgify _ in case of anything left behind.

“Oh?” She asked, and she heard the Gryffindor let out a quiet laugh as arms slid around her waist, leaving soft kisses up the side of Pansy’s neck before she spoke. That was one thing Pansy had come to love the most about Hermione, was how affectionate she could be after they were together. It made her feel wanted in a way she’d never dared to be before.

“Mhm.” She mumbled. How very vague of her.   
“And that’s because…” Pansy said, trailing off as she awaited Hermione’s response. The Gryffindor pressed a kiss to her cheek before explaining her reasoning.

“You’re walking like you just spent three hours on a broom.” Hermione murmured against her skin as she let go of the Slytherin’s waist. Pansy felt her face heat up as she steadied herself on the wall. She honestly hadn’t really  _ noticed  _ that she was shaky until Hermione mentioned it, but now she couldn’t get herself fully stable. Oh, that was  _ evil _ , Pansy was almost impressed.

“You  _ so  _ did that on purpose.” Pansy groaned and hung her head, covering it with her face. Daphne was going to have a  _ field  _ day with this shit.

“Me? Never.” Hermione said, her voice sounding innocent until Pansy glanced up and saw the giant grin on her face. She rolled her eyes and linked her fingers with the Gryffindor, allowing her to pull her into the hallway. It was a bit unnerving how quickly Hermione could go back to ‘Gryffindor’s Golden Girl’ after just having her head between Pansy’s thighs. But, she didn’t really think about that for too long, because it wasn’t like that was a _bad_ thing. Really it was probably saving their asses right now, so that was a plus. The less questions, the better in Pansy’s eyes.


	5. Chapter 5

If you had told Pansy a year ago that she would be doing rounds with Ron Weasley _willingly..._ she probably would've called them crazy and hexed them. But here she was, and she'd signed up to do rounds with him because she actually thought it'd be _fun_.

“You know what’s weird?” He asked, and Pansy raised an eyebrow. Many things were weird, but she supposed she should let him explain.

“What, Ron?” Pansy asked, and Ron grinned down at her

“We’ve never done rounds together.” He said, and Pansy paused, giving him an odd look. No way. No way that was true, even by accident. She’d been paired with Hermione a million times in fifth year without wanting to be.

“That can’t be right.” Pansy said, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. They had to have done rounds together at least once, right? But the redhead shook his head quickly as they turned another corner.

“No, it is. Because I avoided it like the plague when you were part of Umbridge’s demented little club, and last year you hated me for half the year, and the second half you were never not paired with Hermione.” He reminded her, and Pansy felt vaguely embarrassed about the way he said that. It was almost teasing, and she really hated people talking to her like that… at least people she isn’t incredibly close to.

“I suppose you’re right. Well, you’re a pretty good partner.” She admitted, and Ron’s surprise played out on his face, so evident that it was almost comical.

“Oh. Thanks.” Ron mumbled, and Pansy raised an eyebrow. Was he still not sure if they were friendly? Of course they were friendly. She’d lived in his home  _ and  _ was dating one of his best friends… it’d be stupid if they weren’t.

“Do you still think I’m gonna be mean to you?” Pansy asked, and she watched as the tips of his ears turned slightly red and he turned away. Well. That answers  _ that _ question, doesn’t it?

“One can never be too careful.” He clarified, and pansy felt a pang of guilt from that. She supposed that in the past she  _ had  _ been a proper wanker to him, it was fair that he was worried.

“I guess so.” She sighed, and for a while they walked in silence because really, what was Pansy supposed to say to the fact that someone she’d worked hard to actually befriend was still nervous around her?

“So, how are you and ‘Mione?” He asked, finally breaking their silence, and Pansy raised an eyebrow. She knew it wasn’t good to get suspicious, after all, Ron’s one of Hermione’s good friends. She should make more of an effort. But… it was also in her nature.

“Why, trying to cut in?” Pansy asked, only half joking. But apparently the redhead couldn’t even pick up on the half joke, because he quickly shook his head, looking very concerned as he did, apparently that wasn’t something he’d wanted her to think would happen. But their situation sort of lended to it, and honestly Pansy didn’t know how it could be helped.

“No, no. I’m… interested in someone else, actually.” He said softly, and Pansy raised an eyebrow. The last boy he’d liked was currently in a relationship…  _ both  _ of the girls he’d last liked.

“Lavender’s taken, Weasley.” Pansy reminded him, and again he shook his head. Oh. Interesting. That’s a new development, as far as she knew. So, at least it was new to her.

“Not her.” Ron said, a light chuckle coming from him.

“Oh. Gryffindor?” She asked, and he shook his head. Alright, that narrowed it down then.

“Nope.”

“What house?” Pansy asked, as that would help immensely to narrow it down, instead of bouncing between the remaining three.

“Ravenclaw.”

“Oh. It’s not Luna, right?” She asked, feeling her stomach turn. That would be… a bit too close for her liking between siblings.

“Merlin no! I’m not gonna try and steal my sister’s girlfriend, that just feels wrong. Almost incest-y.” Ron said, his face wrinkled up a bit. Good. Very good. Pansy didn’t feel like hexing him today, and she for sure would have if he was trying to go for Luna Lovegood.

“Oh, don’t worry. I agree.” Pansy said, knowing her tone came out very relieved.

“Yeah so… not Luna.” Ron muttered, and Pansy nodded, trying to think of who else there was. Honestly, she didn’t spend a crazy amount of time around Ravenclaws, so she wasn’t entirely sure anymore.

“Who else is there… Cho’s gone…” Pansy mumbled, mostly to herself but Ron took it upon himself to respond.

“Not my type really.” He sighed, and she gave him a curt nod. Pansy had actually assumed that, as it didn’t seem like Harry and Ron had similar taste and she could remember when Potter was tongue tied for Cho. It was a little pathetic, honestly.

“Alright… Padma?” She asked, and the look on Ron’s face and the silence spoke for themselves. Honestly, Pansy could see why, the Patil’s were both rather attractive, not to mention they weren’t boring… so Padma could be right up his alley

“... No comment, alright?” He mumbled, and Pansy smirked at him and bumped his shoulder, trying to make him look at her, so he could see that she wasn’t mocking him right now.

“Aw, that’s sweet. And Padma’s like… really fucking cool.” Pansy said, and she meant that. Parvati and Padma just had a vibe that Pansy had always enjoyed, even if she didn’t ever say it because of expectations.

“I know, but here comes the issue: I was a dick to her at the Yule because of how much I liked Hermione, and now I don’t think she’d speak to me even if she were possessed.” Ron sighed, and Pansy raised an eyebrow. The Yule was some time ago, not to mention, not everyone holds a grudge… and not every grudge is that hard to get over, just look at her and Hermione.

“Have you tried?” She asked, and he was quick to shake his head. Well, that explained a lot.

“No.”

“Why?” Pansy asked, and Ron shrugged, his cheeks starting to flush almost as red as his ears.

“Every time I’m around her I get all tongue tied and flustered and I look like a total idiot, and then she walks away with her friends.” He explained, and Pansy raised an eyebrow. She could for sure help him with that. Just give him a little bit of confidence.

“Need a wingman?” She offered, and Ron looked at her like she had just suggested

“You aren’t suggesting…” He trailed off. Why wasn’t that something she could be for a friend.

“I do have a way with the ladies.” Pansy reminded him, and Ron gave her a look and shook his head.

“One lady. You’re literally dating the one lady that you have a way with.” Ron said, his voice a deadpan. Ugh, it's like some people don’t even  _ want  _ her expert advice. But Pansy chose to set aside Ron’s disrespect of her status, just this once.

“ _ Anyway _ . I can help you, I helped Daphne land Tracey.” She said, and this seemed to pique Ron’s interest, that she had other success stories.

“Really?”

“Mhm. So… are you in or out?” Pansy asked, looking at him out of the corner of his eye as he nodded. Good. That was what she’d thought.

“In. 100% in.” He said, and Pansy gave him a smirk and bumped into him with her shoulder as she spoke.

“Cool, alright. First rule. No talking about the Cannons.” Pansy said, and Ron looked genuinely hurt.

“What?! Why?!” He asked, and Pansy knew the real reason. Sometimes, it's better to ease someone into your interests, not come at them full force. The first few dates are almost always surface conversation, and a surefire way to blow that is talking about a shitty quidditch team.

“Believe me, as a girl, if the person I was into ranted to me about one of the shittest teams in the pro league for an hour I would be dryer than a conversation with Professor Snape.” Pansy said, and Ron wrinkled his nose as he nodded, crossing his arms across his chest as they turned a corner.

“Noted.” He sighed.

“Other than that… you’re not terrible looking, you and Ginny have a similar eye shape, and she's stunning… Plus, you’ve got good lips.” Pansy said, grimacing a bit as she did. It felt wrong, complimenting someone she used to so often make fun of. But, she supposed it was a bit sweet to watch Ron’s face light up.

“Really?” Ron asked, and she nodded. That would be a rather stupid lie, at least in her expert opinion.

“Oh yeah, they’re full, that's always a plus. Just… moisturize them a bit more, yeah?” She said, and Ron chewed on his lip.

“How?” He asked, and Pansy rolled her eyes. How did he not know this? How was this not considered common knowledge at this point in time?

“Merlin, it's like you grew up in a cave. I’ll get you what you need.” Pansy sighed

“Thanks."

“And you’re in good shape, thanks to the quidditch… even if you are annoyingly tall.” Pansy mumbled, and Ron looked down at her, clearly confused.

“Don’t girls like tall boys?” He asked. Honestly, when it comes to looks  _ fuck  _ if Pansy knows, she’d never found a boy attractive in her  _ life _ .

“Some do. Also, you’re nice and funny, that’s something people really like, believe me.” She said, and he nodded, like he was actually trying to take notes on this. Pansy knew fuck all of what she was supposed to tell Ron to do to win over a girl, she had never helped a guy before. But maybe it was the same… if so, she’d be an expert.

“Okay, so how do I know if Padma is interested in me?” He asked, and Pansy smirked up at him and patted his arm lightly. She could easily figure that out.

“Oh my dear boy, you leave that to me.” She insisted, and Ron looked confused. What was confusing about that?

“Huh?” He asked, and Pansy shrugged. This would certainly make class a bit more interesting for her.

“I’ve got Divination with her tomorrow, I’ll just knock Susan Bones from her spot and talk to her.” Pansy offered, and Ron looked at her with some hesitation, like he was waiting for the other shoe to drop. No shoe, she genuinely wanted to do this, figured she could repay Molly through doing things for her kids, since refused to accept  _ any _ money from Pansy for letting her stay there.

“Why are you willing to do this?” He asked, and Pansy shrugged. She didn’t exactly feel like telling him that it was because she was trying to be his friend, but she could at least hint at it, right?

“Because. We got off on the wrong foot, and as much as it  _ pains  _ me to say this, I want to see you happy. You deserve it after what the three of you went through last year.”

“So are you gonna play matchmaker with Harry?” He asked, and Pansy wrinkled her nose. She could tell from the way that Harry  _ tried  _ (and failed) to glare at Draco during every meal, class, or time they saw each other that he was still interested and in  _ theory  _ Pansy could help him, but she’d rather swallow glass then have a friendly conversation with Draco when he hadn’t even apologized to Hermione yet. She had too much respect for herself and her own relationship for that.

“No, pretty sure he’s still got eyes for the walking corpse boy.” Pansy said, and she noted the look of slight confusion on Ron’s face. Come on, how was that  _ not  _ fucking obvious, right?

“Malfoy?” He asked, and she nodded. Just had to ruin the interesting statement, huh?

“My way was more fun, but yeah. Malfoy.” Pansy grumbled

“And he’s still a bastard.” Ron said, more of a question then a statement, which irked Pansy, but she supposed she couldn’t really be upset, he wasn’t saying that he was taking Draco’s side in  _ anything _ , just confirming what he probably already knew.

“To the best of my knowledge, yeah. He and I haven’t spoken aside from what is needed as head boy and girl. Except for that, we’ve steered clear of each other. I think he’s scared of what I’ll do to him for choosing the side that wanted my girlfriend dead.” Pansy admitted, purposefully leaving out the argument they’d had in the hallway, she was sure Ron already knew about that.

“Totally fair. I do feel a little bad for the bloke, he’s very lonely.” Ron admitted, and Pansy shook her head.

“That’s what happens when you betray your friends, he’s damn lucky no one has tortured his traitorous ass yet.” She said, and Ron chuckled, shaking his head.

“Sounds like you might be the one to change that.” Ron said, and Pansy knew he was joking, but she nodded. Draco was a wanker, and if he couldn’t take what he gave out, then he shouldn’t be dealing  _ anything  _ out to begin with.

“Oh it is my fucking  _ dream _ to torture Draco Malfoy, how he enabled me to be tortured. I want to see that priss-ass suffer as much as I have. Or Daphne. Or Tracey. Or any of you. He doesn’t know what it's like…”

“Well, you’ve got no sympathy.” Ron said, and Pansy shook her head. Sympathy was saved for those who truly deserved it.

“Death Eaters don’t deserve sympathy, they deserve to be killed.” Pansy snapped, and Ron gave her a shocked look before crossing his arms and glancing away, clearly a little unsure about how he was meant to feel about that statement.

“Strong feelings on this, then?” He asked, and Pansy rolled her eyes. She supposed Ron didn’t know the whole story, so who was she to fault him over something this small?

“My parents abused me for years and I could never do anything to stop them. And they’re death eaters. If I ever get the chance to kill my father, I will stare right into his cold, unfeeling eyes and watch him die.” She explained, and she watched Ron’s eyes widen slightly as he nodded, looking a tad nervous.

“ _ Merlin _ , you’re dark.” He breathed. Of course she was, that was sort of the only thing she could be for quite some time.

“You don’t get it. You had a very nice upbringing.” Pansy reminded him, and she saw Ron’s face fall just a little as he rubbed the back of his neck and nodded

“Always struggling for money… always overlooked… never getting anything new… constantly compared to my siblings… yeah, it was just  _ great _ .” Ron mumbled, and Pansy furrowed her brow, a bit confused. Well… she honestly had no way of knowing that, Molly had been rather protective of Ron, at least at Christmas last year, so she really didn’t know.

“I didn’t realize Molly did that.” She admitted, and Ron shrugged, giving her a sad smile before speaking.

“I don’t think mum means it, but there's just so many of us… I suppose it lends itself to happening, you know?” Ron asked, and Pansy still felt a bit uncomfortable with that confession. Ron felt overlooked. She should’ve seen that coming.

“Totally.”

“That’s part of the reason I was so excited to get on the quidditch team like yeah, my siblings did it too, but I was able to prove that I was just as capable. Same with getting prefect, I really thought it was going to be Harry.” Ron admitted, and Pansy grimaced at that. Merlin, she really wished that wasn’t such a common thought, she honestly felt a bit bad.

“In the nicest way possible, so did I.” Pansy said, and Ron gave her a small smile and nodded.

“I expected that, it’s fine.” He assured her, and they walked in silence for a little bit.

“For what it’s worth, I think you’re a pretty good prefect. And head boy.” Pansy said, trying to salvage the conversation just a bit. Ron raised an eyebrow as he glanced down at her.

“Really?” He asked. Of course. There was a _reason_ why he'd been chosen, after all.

“Yeah, you’re approachable, most of the time you’re kind… it fits you.” Pansy explained, and she saw Ron's small smile grow a bit bigger at that. Good.

“Thanks Parkinson. That means a lot. You-.” Pansy looked up and gave him a look. Don't try that, Weasley.

“Don’t lie to me and say that it fits me too, I know that it doesn’t.” Pansy said, her voice flat. Ron grimaced and nodded, looking down at the stone as they made their way towards the stairs down. Their shift was almost over, after all, and she didn’t feel like walking back to the Slytherin dorms alone. And she was under no obligation to drop Ron off first.

“Right.”

“Literally I’ve got no idea how I got to be prefect because I know it had nothing to do with my parents having money, they didn’t even know I was prefect until halfway through the year.” She explained, and Ron’s face said it all.

“Well… maybe you were just the best bet-.” He tried, and she shook her head. No one would buy that, not even if it was only worth a sickle.

“Tracey is loads nicer than I am. Millie too. Hell, even Daphne can have her moments.” Pansy admitted.

“That doesn’t mean-.” He started, and Pansy held up a hand to silence him.

“I’ve never had a kid willingly talk to me about a problem.” Pansy sighed, her heart sort of sinking when she said that. Mostly because she could remember how she talked to her Head Girl about some of the things that had gone wrong when she was young, and she knew how important that could be… sort of sucked that kids didn’t even want to give her the chance to do that for them.

“Why?” Ron asked, and Pansy chuckled. How did he not know? Like… seriously, it’s pretty damn obvious. She’d bullied kids for  _ years _ , this year was the first time she’d started out  _ not _ doing that.

“Because, apparently I seem like I’d eat them alive.” Pansy explained, and Ron gave her a surprised look. Was that so hard to believe right now?

“No shit?” He asked, and Pansy nodded.

“Mhm.” She sighed

“Kids are actually scared of you?” Ron asked, as if it was so unbelievable. She wanted to remind him that not one year ago  _ he  _ was a tad bit afraid of her… or maybe he was just wary, either way.

“I don’t blame them. I was a bitch.” She said, and Ron looked a bit uncomfortable as he forced out a chuckle.

“Come on, Pansy. You’re alright at what you do-.” Pansy scoffed and shook her head. There was no need to dance around it right now.

“Well, I mean, no one wants to talk to me when I’m on shift, pretty sure I’m a shitty prefect.” Pansy sighed, and Ron gave her an odd look.

“You speak like you’re self conscious.” He said, and Pansy shrugged. He wasn’t entirely wrong, honestly.

“I used to be.” She admitted, and Ron nodded.

“You seem pretty confident now.” He tried, and Pansy chuckled and shook her head. Sometimes she was, and then sometimes she remembered all the ways she wasn’t who she was meant to be.

“That, my friend, is a front. I’m just glad that Hermione and I are doing well, I always get nervous that she’s gonna fall out of love with me.” Pansy sighed, a little shocked that that had fallen out of her mouth. But, she knew it wasn’t veritaserum, she could remember how out of control  _ that  _ had felt. Ron though, he didn’t seem phased by her statement, instead he snorted and shook his head, like what Pansy had said was ludacris. It wasn’t, it could easily happen, she was painfully aware of that.

“Please, she’s  _ all  _ in with you. You’ve got her heart, dude. You’re lucky.” Ron said, and Pansy cocked her head to the side. Really?

“How so?” Pansy asked, and Ron shrugged.

“Well, you never have to worry about this dating shit again.” He pointed out, and Pansy raised an eyebrow, because that was quite an assumption. Obviously she never  _ wanted  _ to have to deal with that again… but still...

“What do you mean?” She asked, and Ron shook his head, a small smirk on his face as he spoke.

“I swear to Merlin, Pansy. She’s going to marry you, I already know that, it’s so clear. The two of you are so happy together that I honestly get a little jealous… not because I still want her, it's not that. It just makes me want that happiness, makes me want someone to hold and call my own.” Ron explained, and Pansy felt her face burn a bit at the implication of a forever. Of course she’d thought about it too, the promise ring was there for a reason, but it was different hearing someone else say it.

“Yeah well… I really got lucky with her.” Pansy said softly, knowing that there was a small smile on her face as she thought about her girlfriend, and the type of person she would’ve been without her… a very bad, broken, hurt person. She was pulled out of her thoughts by Ron clearing his throat.

“Thanks, by the way. I don’t know why you’re willing to help me, but thank you.” He sighed, and Pansy scoffed and rolled her eyes.

“Ron. We’re not enemies anymore, we’ve been friends for a few months now.” Pansy reminded him. She wasn’t a total bitch, also… she might’ve even done something like this last year if she’d had a good incentive, and at that time keeping him away from Hermione romantically  _ was  _ a good incentive. This time it was just a genuine good thing

“I know, I just… I still forget sometimes, you know?” He said, pausing outside the door to the dungeon for a moment. This felt awkward, more awkward than any other conversation tonight, because it felt like there was an expectation of a friendly goodbye.

“Fair. Totally fair. Well, this is me. G’night, Ron.” Pansy said, reaching up to pat him on the shoulder. He nodded and turned away, starting back towards the stairs.

“See you around, Parkinson. Don’t be a stranger.” He called, giving her an awkward wave over his shoulder. What an odd thing to say, she was almost certain they couldn’t be strangers anymore even if they _wanted_ to be. Especially not now that she was going to land Ron Weasley a date.

* * *

Yeah, head girl dorms were  _ for sure  _ the best part about both of them being head girls, Pansy had decided. Especially when Hermione decided that she wanted to actually utilize them instead of just studying in the common room. Honestly, Pansy was intrigued enough that Hermione was willing to let her into the common room this early in the year but this… this was  _ so  _ much better then she could’ve expected.

“Merlin, you’re so hot.” Hermione growled, kicking the door shut behind her as she pressed a firm kiss to Pansy’s waiting lips, stealing the very air from her lungs. Merlin, as much as she wanted to give herself over to her right now, Pansy knew she should do a quick check.

“You locked your dorm door, right?” Pansy asked when she resurfaced, and she noticed that Hermione was hardly paying attention to the words coming out of her mouth. Honestly, she found that rather hot… the way that Hermione,  _ her  _ Hermione could get so caught up in the moment now… it was so unlike how she was with everyone else.

“Hm? Yeah, yeah don’t worry about it, love.” Hermione said, sounding distracted as she walked Pansy back until she fell onto the bed, pulling the other witch down with her, making quick work of the buttons on Hermione’s shirt, letting it fall open. Merlin, she looked like a fucking  _ vision _ , Pansy could hardly believe she’d chosen  _ her _ out of everyone she could’ve had.

“ _ Gods _ , Hermione…” Pansy sighed, running her fingers up Hermione’s exposed abdomen, loving the warm, soft skin beneath her fingertips. The Gryffindor nodded and shivered a bit, leaning back down to press her lips just below Pansy’s ear before she spoke.

“I know, I know. Lets-.” And of course, the door flew open to reveal a very annoyed looking Harry Potter. Hermione dove off of Pansy, and stood up quickly, turning towards the wall as she quickly rebuttoned her shirt.  _ Wonderful _ .

“I’m going to hex Malfoy myself!” He whined, throwing himself down on the edge of the bed, an inch or so from Pansy’s leg. She barely contained the urge to hex that bloody scar off of his forehead.

“... let's button your shirt back up? Wonderful idea.” Pansy grumbled quietly as she ran her fingers through her hair to smooth it down as Hermione gave her an apologetic look before turning to Harry and sitting back down.

“Harry, how did you-.” He huffed and sat up, turning on his stomach and propping his hand up as he looked at Hermione.

“Not quite the same spell on the Head Girl dorm. Just a warning.” Harry sighed, and Hermione huffed and shook her head, leaning back until her head was resting on Pansy’s thigh.

“Oh… brilliant. Now I’ve got to deal with you  _ all  _ the time.” She huffed, and Harry gave her an offended look as he reached over, lightly shoving her leg. Pansy had a vague memory that his Patronus was a stag… maybe giving him antlers would be a good hex.

“Oi, shut up! I’m trying to lament!” Harry snapped, and Hermione sighed and nodded, cuddling down a bit more onto Pansy’s leg. She reached up and ran her fingers through Hermione’s hair, smirking down at her.

“Go on.” Hermione sighed, and Pansy sat up more and cleared her throat.

“Or… get out and she can meet you in the common room in 20 minutes.” Pansy offered, a fake smile spreading across her face as Hermione looked back at her, raising an eyebrow. Okay, so that joke wasn’t well received.

“20?” Hermione asked, as if that was the worst thing she could’ve said. Alright, so it was either too much time or too little… probably too little, that was a good guess.

“...30?” Pansy asked, raising an eyebrow, and she didn’t miss the look that flashed through Hermione’s eyes before she cleared her throat and nodded, squeezing her hand before she dropped it and turned back to Harry.

“Better. But still not wonderful. Anyways. Harry. Why do you want to hex your ex?” Hermione asked, and Pansy let out a quiet snort. Everyone wanted that, Harry wasn’t special.

“Who _doesn’t_ want to hex his ex at this point.” Pansy mumbled, and Hermione glared up at her and flicked her arm lightly. Okay, so wrong time to state the obvious.

“ _Pansy_.” Hermione said, her voice coming out in a warning. She put her hands up in surrender and gave her a small smirk.

“Right. Sorry. Continue, Potter. I’ll be on my best behavior.” Pansy said, putting on her best faux-believable tone. Harry sighed and rolled his eyes, looking down at the bedspread.

“I doubt that, but okay. It’s just… seeing him all happy and okay after all the shit he put people through last year… after he broke my heart… it drives me insane! I don’t understand how he’s even allowed to go here.” He explained, and Pansy nodded. He had made her a bit irritated, but Merlin if he didn’t have a point with that one.

“No one does. He should be rotting in Azkaban with his fucking parents and his aunt. Seriously.” She huffed, and Harry nodded. Good. Good they were on the same page.

“No complaints here.” Harry sighed, and Pansy raised an eyebrow. He’d probably benefit from this knowledge.

“If it makes you feel better, Tracey busted his nose the other day and hexed him.” Pansy offered, and Harry gave her a large grin as he nodded. Good, then it wasn’t just their friend group that had found joy from that.

“I heard about that, and it for sure did brighten my day in the moment.” He said, and she grinned at him and nodded. Perfect. While that wasn’t Tracey’s point, it was for sure a plus to cheer up the Golden Boy.

“Brilliant.”

“Merlin, you two are morbid.” Hermione sighed, sitting up a bit as she did. Pansy chuckled and raised an eyebrow

“Oh, and you don’t think he deserved it?” Pansy asked, practically taunting the righteous side of Hermione. Because if she said no, she was taking Draco’s side, but if she said  _ yes  _ she was condoning all of this and saying it was okay. Pansy was interested in how she was going to handle this.

“Of course he does, it's not that! It’s just the moral side of me that doesn't think that’s a  _ wonderful _ idea to condone this.” Hermione reasoned, and Pansy shrugged. Well. That was fair.

“It’s not like it’d be your fault.” She reasoned, and Harry jumped in.

“Exactly! Pansy and I could just do this and you could just be silent and not tell anyone.” Harry said, exchanging a jovial smirk with Pansy and, okay,  _ maybe  _ this conversation was sort of fun, and maybe she wasn’t as annoyed at Potter for interrupting them.

“No.” Hermione said, her voice coming out deadpan. Pansy rolled her eyes and leaned down, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead.

“Well, you’re ruining our fun, love. Plus… I’d be avenging your friend. Isn’t that a good thing?” Pansy asked, and Hermione scoffed and rolled her eyes, full sitting up as she did, scooting up until she was sitting beside Pansy.

“Of course it is! But you absolutely  _ cannot  _ murder your head boy!” Hermione chastised, and Pansy rolled her eyes. Her intent was never explicitly stated.

“I never said I was going to  _ murder  _ him-.” That earned her a look. Right.

“Torture is off the table too.” Hermione said, her glare growing a little bit heavier. Fine. She supposed that was fair.

“How incredibly dull.” Pansy sighed, resting her head on Hermione’s shoulder, and Harry chuckled and nodded.

“Agreed.” Harry echoed. She sort of appreciated how Harry was a bit less stereotypical Gryffindor this year, it made him much easier to be around.

“Harry. Love.” Hermione said, her voice soft and gentle, and Harry turned his grin on her.

“Yes?” He asked, and Hermione’s face dropped, going back to neutral.

“Get out of my room, you’re encouraging her and I  _ do not  _ want to be charged as an accomplice.” Hermione said, and Harry’s mouth opened and then closed before he spoke again.

“So  _ I  _ have to leave? I live in this house!” He protested, and Hermione gave him a look and crossed her arms across her chest.  _ Of course  _ Hermione was going to pick Pansy in this situation,  _ she  _ wasn’t the one who interrupted.

“Yes but we were in the  _ middle  _ of something.” She said, and Harry rolled his eyes and sighed, pulling himself off of Hermione’s bed and straightening out his shirt.

“Ugh. Fine. See you at dinner, ‘Mione.” Harry called, letting the door swing shut behind him. Good. He was gone.

“Mhm.” Hermione mumbled.

“Well that was… certainly interesting.” Pansy said, choosing her words very carefully, and Hermione nodded and sighed, running a hand through her hair as she stood up, looking around for her tie. Damn. But Pansy supposed that her best friend coming in  _ really  _ dampened the mood.

“Not the most eventful thing he’s said to me.” Hermione admitted, and Pansy nodded. That added up, they’d literally killed a man together.

“Oh, I don’t doubt that for a moment. He’s had _quite_ the life.” Pansy sighed, leaning her head back against the pillows, looking up at the ceiling. Damnit Potter


	6. A/N

Hello! As I stated on my other story, I will be continuing this story, I’m just currently dealing with severe health issues so I don’t know how often the updates will happen. But I will do it when I have the energy and when I’m not in too much pain, I promise

I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday!


End file.
